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northbrooktower.com sports
the northbrook tower | May 4, 2017 | 45
Girls Soccer
Cramin’s double lifts GBN over Highland Park
Derek Wolff, Sports Editor
For 76 minutes on a blustery,
bitterly cold night in late April,
Highland Park and Glenbrook
North played to a stalemate.
The trouble for the visiting
Giants (10-3, 2-1 CSL) was that
they had already yielded a goal
to prolific Spartans sophomore
right wing Samantha Cramin in
the third minute of the contest
on Thursday, April 27, in Northbrook.
Cramin’s second tally of the
game in the 79th minute sealed
the deal in a 2-0 win for the
Spartans (8-2-3, 4-0 CSL) and
increased their shot at capturing
an outright CSL North Division
title.
Glenbrook North dominated
possession thanks to strong play
from its holding midfielders,
while Cramin’s attacking prowess
and creative play helped set
up a number of chances for the
Spartans.
“We’ve been working a lot on
having our midfield be able to
connect, keep composure with
the ball at their feet and keep going,”
Spartans coach Craig Loch
said. “I think they did a good job
today in the midfield moving
the ball but we kept going to the
strong side and kept moving the
ball, finding the switches. We
were looking to play a little too
direct.”
Giants goalkeeper Maile Lunardi’s
efforts kept Highland
Park in the game, though in the
third minute she was victimized
after coming off of her line early.
Cramin made an attacking run
up the right side of the pitch and
into the box, where she slipped
around a pair of defenders and
then caught Lunardi out of position,
placing a slotted shot into
the net at the far corner for the
1-0 lead.
Glenbrook North continued
to press forward in the offensive
third and earned a corner kick
two minutes later. The Giants
Flanked by Highland Park’s Sarah Stahlberger (left) and Sarah
Shiner (right), Glenbrook North’s Victoria Caparos (middle) moves
the ball through the midfield during a contest on Thursday, April
27, in Northbrook. Derek Wolff/22nd Century Media
were dealt a blow of bad luck in
the eighth minute when freshman
right back Eva Hanson was
injured inside the box and had to
be taken off the field.
As a result, the Giants leaned
heavily on sophomore center
backs Ryan Cary and Jamie
Stern. While the Spartans continued
to control possession
throughout, Cary and Stern
helped Highland Park force
GBN to play the ball outside to
its wings rather than attacking
directly up the center.
Glenbrook North nearly found
its second goal of the match in
the 10th minute when Olivia
Kosla connected with Emily
Charen off a volley into the box,
but Charen’s shot on was pushed
away with a diving save from
Lunardi.
GBN got its next best look to
score in the 29th minute, though
Victoria Caparos’ shot sailed
over the bar.
Cramin’s creativity was on
full display in the second half,
where another attacking run saw
her all alone with Lunardi inside
the 6-yard box in the 44th minute.
A diving save from the goalkeeper
kept Highland Park in
the contest, a reoccurring theme
for the half.
Lunardi stopped shots from
Torrie Welch in the 51st and
Caparos in the 54th minutes,
then stopped Charen off a nice
through pass from Cramin in
the 58th. When Charen drew a
penalty kick in the 77th, Lunardi
stopped that, too.
Finally, GBN’s speed caught
up to Highland Park in the 79th,
when Cramin again found herself
all alone with the Highland
Park goalkeeper. Lunardi was
forced to stray from her line and
stopped an initial shot, but the
rebound found Cramin’s foot,
followed by the back of the net
for the 2-0 final tally.
Loch was complimentary of
the Highland Park goalkeeper
and pleased with his side for
finding a way past her.
“I think we have some dynamic
players on our team with
some speed,” he said. “You can’t
coach speed. When you have
that, you need to create opportunities
to your dynamic up top
and it puts the defense and the
goalie in tough situations. I think
(Lunardi) played awesome. She
played well, she stopped multiple
chances, she gave them a chance
to stay in the game.”
The win kept Glenbrook
North perfect in CSL play on
a day when the IHSA released
sectional seedings. GBN drew
the No. 5 seed in its own sectional,
with rival Glenbrook
South as the No. 4 seed, setting
up a potential regional championship
matchup between the
two at GBS.
Athlete of the Month
Yavitt rallies for win
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
The New Trier High School
boys water polo team has been
one of the best in the state the last
couple years.
A year after finishing third in the
state, the Trevians are 22-1, with
their only loss coming to undefeated
Stevenson. Senior Henry Yavitt,
who will be playing at Air Force
next season, captured 22nd Century
Media’s Athlete of the Month
contest for the month of April.
Yavitt won a close race, finishing
in first place with 115 votes.
Loyola boys volleyball player
Jim Dunbar finished in second
place with 80 votes, while Lake
Forest boys basketball player Michael
Parsky was third.
New Trier fencer Maddy Tung
and New Trier girls soccer player
Samantha Urban rounded out the
top five.
Voting lasted from April 10-25.
The Athlete of the Month contest
for athletes selected in the month
of April gets underway on May
10 and will end on May 25. Vote
at NorthbrookTower.com.
New Trier High School boys water polo player Henry Yavitt won 22nd
Century Media’s Athlete of the Month contest for the month of April.
22nd Century Media File Photo
May Athlete of the Month Candidates
Glenbrook North
Joel Zimmerman, boys track and
field
Ally Rosenbaum, badminton
Michael Siboni, boys track and
field
Sara Chen, badminton
Loyola
Avery Yalowitz, softball
Emma Kyle, girls water polo
New Trier
Caroline Christopher, badminton
Kate Holly, girls track and field
Glenbrook South
Danny Polyakov, boys gymnastics
Cameron Duffy, boys lacrosse
Lake Forest
Hannah Bell, girls soccer
Mead Payne, boys lacrosse
Brad Czerniejewski, baseball
Highland Park
Xander Echt, boys lacrosse
Jen Kaufman, softball
Jacob Edelchik, boys tennis