April 30--Kelly Maday and Bina Saipi were tongue-tied.
Upon being asked to describe a team weakness, any weakness, two juniors on the New Trier girls soccer team hesitated far longer than normal social conventions. There was no ready-made, clear answer. Such is life in the Trevians program these days.
Success, with this group, began with winning the Class 3A state title last season. Additional history included a state record for wins (31) and a tie for the second-most shutouts in a single season (26).
After defeating Evanston 2-0 on Tuesday, New Trier improved its unblemished mark to 16-0-0 this year. The Trevians have won 37 of their past 38 games.
"There have been flashes (of greatness) in both practices and games," head coach Jim Burnside said. "They're doing things you can't coach with most teams. You hope they happen, but you're worried more about the fundamentals. With this group, we're talking about really high-level learning on the soccer field. It's the difference between a freshman class and an AP class."
There's collegiate talent all over the prep field. Forward Maday (committed to Illinois) and midfielder Saipi (DePaul) join junior keeper Dani Kaufman (Maryland), sophomore forward Natalie Laser (USC), senior midfielder Dana Ulrich (University of Chicago) and senior forward Maggie Armstrong (Denison), among others.
Despite the eye-popping commitments, New Trier has been banged up all season, unable to field its optimal roster due to various injuries and maladies. The absences have forced Burnside to use his abnormally deep and talented bench, a seemingly unfortunate situation that has evolved into the team's greatest strength.
Maday leads the team with 14 goals and 15 assists, and after her, 13 players have scored through Tuesday.
"If we have our lineup and we sub someone in, you can't even tell, there's absolutely no letdown," Saipi said.
Kaufman realized how special this group was this past weekend. On the Friday before New Trier's prom, the entire team got spray tans and played the game Guesstures in its hotel. Prom was Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency on Upper Wacker, but the Trevians couldn't completely indulge. A curfew was in place. They had a PepsiCo Showdown title to defend the following day.
They did, knocking off Plainfield North 2-0.
"I looked around last weekend and thought, 'Wow, this is what makes me so happy, this team is what makes me so happy, I just love spending time with them,'" Kaufman said.
Burnside and Kaufman believe the team's on-field communication can be improved. Given the team's depth -- "in any game, we'll play 21 of our 25", Burnside said -- it's taking a bit longer to build the unspoken chemistry the Trevians know will be necessary to grab the state title and perhaps, an undefeated record.
Burnside, who has coached New Trier since 1997 and won four state titles, has his own bit of history to finish this season. Eleven victories stand between him and the title of winningest coach in state history. At the current rate, Burnside would grab the record during the Trevians' playoff run.
"High school soccer is about creating and molding the team you have at that moment," Burnside said. "We have a great tradition, and the girls on this team understand that. Not so much the winning that's gone on, but more the work that's been put into it.
"But do we talk about working to win, about going as far as we can? Absolutely."
