Grens take New Trier to 2 OT in Pepsi Showdown

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By Gary Larsen

Unseeded Elk Grove gave top-seeded New Trier everything it could handle in a Pepsi Showdown game in Schaumburg on Saturday.

The Grens played a whale of a first half and led 1-0 on a Kelly Naughton penalty kick before New Trier’s Maddie Mulford tied the game in the second half and won it with a goal in the second overtime period.

The Grens (5-2-1) put unbeaten New Trier (7-0-2) in a halftime hole when Naughton was fouled in the box in the first half.

“I got grabbed by the arm and pulled down,” Naughton said. “Michelle (Calmeyn) usually takes our penalty kicks but she was like ‘no, it’s yours. Take it’. I felt like ‘I don’t know if I should be doing this’, but it worked out.”

Forward Calmeyn stayed busy throughout the first 40 minutes, punctuating her side’s strong midfield play by fighting tooth-and-nail to keep the pressure on in the final third.

The Grens gave as well as they got against a Trevians team that can spread a team out and shred a defense with the best of them.

“They were really good at finding each other,” the Grens’ Emily Wary said. “We came out knowing they were a really good team. But I think our athleticism is helping us play at another level.”

“We were finding each other on the field,” Naughton said. “We’re talking a lot more and people are always backing each other up.”

New Trier’s attack picked up steam in the second half to Mulford’s first score from point-blank range. The Trevians freshman scored off a feed from Haley Rosen in the second overtime, just three minutes before a pending shootout.

The Grens started Saturday’s game without defender Lindsey Vaccarino and midfielder Rachel Pruim due to ACT testing, but both showed up to play when testing was done. Elk Grove will need a full lineup when a certain unbeaten MSL rival rolls into town for a conference game on Monday.

“Coach told us it was a good game and we can’t hang our heads, because we’ve got a game against Conant on Monday,” Naughton said. “That’s going to be a big game.”

Elk Grove vs. Conant kicks off at 6:00 p.m. in Elk Grove.