Falcons fall short against talented New Trier squad

By Matt Le Cren

Wheaton North has a lot of talented individuals, but the Falcons lack the star player that can make everyone around her better.

The shortcoming of such a situation was evident Friday night when the host Falcons played a team that does have such a difference-maker.

New Trier standout Amber Fry scored two goals, giving her 17 on the season, to lead the Trevians to a 2-0 victory in Naperville Invitational action.

"She's definitely the best I've seen," Wheaton North senior forward Kelsey Tharnstrom said.

"When I'm on the bench watching her, everyone is just commenting on how fast she is. She’'s a difference-maker.

“We don't have a single player [like that]. We're one of those teams that needs everyone to be at their best."

But in the first half it was the Virginia-bound Fry who was at her best.

The senior gave New Trier (12-1) a 1-0 lead at the 31:34 mark by catching the Falcons napping.

Haley Rosen slotted a pass through the defense to a streaking Fry, who kept on going when North's back line stopped running thinking she was offsides.

Fry then walked in alone on Falcons goalie Shannon Malahy and eventually maneuvered around her for the score.

"For some reason this year teams are playing a lot of offside traps against us," Fry said. "They might have a good defense, but we have a lot of speed.

"Sometimes when a team plays the offside trap they think, 'Oh, she's offside,' so I just keep going until the ref tells me not to because you don't know if he will. They all stopped so it was kind of a free goal."

That frustrated Tharnstrom, who knew that the Falcons, who have struggled offensively of late, could not afford to fall behind.

"The first goal was totally just defensive disorganization," Tharnstrom said. "We thought it was offsides and we just stopped.

"Regardless of whether it's offsides or not, you have to keep going. The second goal was a great goal."

Fry's second strike came with 18:10 left in the half on a left-footed blast from 22 yards out that beat Malahy top shelf.

The Trevians completely dominated the action before halftime, outshooting the Falcons 8-2.

"New Trier was unbelievable. They played as well as I think they could play," Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said.

"They played with pace, they made great decisions, they made great touches on every ball. When they're all piecing it together and Amber Fry is getting the touches then it's dangerous.

“That first 40 minutes they looked as good as anybody I've seen play in a while. We did a lot of chasing the first 40 minutes. Second 40 we did a much better job of fighting the game between the 30s, but they still maintained a high level of play."

Things got a little better for North in the second half. The Falcons (9-5) managed four of their six shots, although none was dangerous.

The best chances came on a pair of 31-yard free kicks by defender Kate Wiegman, but both of her attempts went straight at New Trier keeper Laura Martorana.

It was a continuation of a frustrating trend for the Falcons. They are undefeated when they score at least one goal but have been shut out in each of their five losses.

"We have such amazing individuals and we're just not turning into magic with each other," Tharnstrom said. "Every team we play, they come out and they're so calm and relaxed and I feel like we don't have that yet.

"We have good ideas and good attempts, but a lot of it I think we need to work on is keeping the ball on the ground and distributing it rather than just kicking it and making the forward runs.

"We do have really fast forwards, but I think we're resting on that too much. We're [relying] on just speed and we have to use our skill. When we do get the ball up top we need to have the whole team to come with us and I don't think we're getting that."

But McEvilly wasn't as concerned as some of his players seemed to be, noting that five starters were playing with injuries against one of the top teams in the state.

"I'm not disappointed in our play," McEvilly said. "[The Falcons] worked their tails off trying to turn it around. We gave ourselves a chance but New Trier was the better team tonight.

"I think what you have to be concerned about with any girls soccer team is them just believing that one 40-minute period of soccer is symbolic of what the rest of the year is going to be.

"It was New Trier's night tonight. We've had many of those nights ourselves this year and it's about trusting that each player on the team is doing everything they can to make a difference and turn things around. I was really proud of how they came out in that second 40."

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