NORTHFIELD — The booming 40-yard shot off the right foot of New Trier senior Josie Noble in Friday night’s nonconference match against visiting Fremd appeared dangerous to all but one at Robert Naughton Field.

That was Noble herself.

“I didn’t think it was strong enough,” the Wake Forest-bound forward said after New Trier’s 3-0 victory on the Trevians’ Senior Night. “I thought for sure their goalkeeper (senior Emily Gordon) would step forward and grab it.”

The upper portion of a goal’s netting collected the more-than-strong-enough shot instead. The ball had eluded Gordon’s raised arms in the 42nd minute and ignited a three-goal flurry in seven minutes.

“It was my dream goal, because it came on our Senior Night,” said Noble, a 2023 Chicagoland Soccer all-stater.

Four minutes later, senior back and future Idaho Vandals booter Basie Shannon elevated her 6-foot-1 frame to head senior midfielder Sybil Evans’ corner kick home, and junior back Honor Dold converted a corner kick three minutes after that.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Three-nil, just like that.

The celebration of New Trier’s seniors and their parents at halftime reduced the home team’s intermission to two minutes, so coach Jim Burnside must have made every word count to his huddled Trevians.

He could take his time after the game to praise his side.

“The kids did what they needed to do early in the second half,” said Burnside, whose potent squad — ranked no. 3 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25— improved to 10-0-2 in its last 12 games and 18-2-4 overall with its win over 15th-ranked Fremd (11-4-4).

“We came out strong there,” the coach continued. “We had to against a physical, fast team in Fremd.”

The glaring star of the scoreless first half was Fremd senior back and Butler signee Gemma Gillespie, whose clears turned into spot-on services at a nearly 100-percent clip.

“Practically every ball Gemma hits finds a teammate’s feet,” said an impressed Noble, a club teammate of Gillespie. “She’s such a composed player and a great teammate. Kind, too.”

Gillespie, a 2023 Chicagoland Soccer all-stater, also blocked shots here and there and everywhere, disrupted New Trier crosses, forced turnovers and used her head — her soccer smarts and the noggin housing them — to trigger transitions.

“Gemma played phenomenally,” said Vikings coach Steve Keller. “Gemma rises to the occasion for big games like tonight’s game. She takes a game like this, against a strong team like New Trier, as a personal challenge. It gets her motor going. You can’t miss her determination and will to win. The bigger the game, the more focused she is.”

Noble, one of New Trier’s five senior captains, and Gillespie each earned a share of Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match honor.

The Trevians’ other captains are Evans, forward Charlotte Dellin, all-state back Clara Deliduka and midfielder Annie Paden, who provided the assist on Noble’s stirring tally.

“We have five great senior captains, and the rest of our seniors are just as important to our team and just as effective leaders,” Dold said, also referring to Shannon, midfielder Maria Petrakis and forward Jaime Elias, who drew the foul that preceded Dold’s PK by working tenaciously in the box.

Burnside lauded Dellin, a Fairfield recruit, for keeping the ball alive near the end line moments before the speedy Elias, a sublime athlete and Texas Tech commit, toiled in the 18 to give Dold the opportunity to net her first PK of 2024.

“Feel,” Burnside said of his decision to tap Dold — a Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List selectee after the 2023 season — for spot duty from the penalty spot. “You can depend on Honor, 100 percent.”

If Keller’s club plays anywhere close to how it did in Friday night’s first half during the Vikings’ upcoming playoff run, he’d state, “Sign me up.”

Fremd sophomore midfielder Sophia Kennedy did what reliable midfielders do — ruin the opposing team’s promising attack one minute and serve as Point A in a counterattack the next.

“Sophia,” Keller said, “was on her game tonight, really into it. She did a great job.”

“Fantastic in the middle of the park,” Gillespie said of Kennedy’s efforts against a Trevians’ team — tall, talent-soaked, strong, tough, wicked-fast — that could easily pass for a crew of imposing collegians.

New Trier freshman keeper Annie Fowler made only two saves to Gordon’s three, but she displayed her value by stamping out perilous corners and crosses.

Trevians reserve Noa Boeing, a freshman midfielder, was an instant spark each time she entered the fray. 

Other standouts for Fremd included co-captain and Denison-bound Ava Catherall, a senior midfielder, and sophomores Sami Serpico, a midfielder, and Lily Mayer, a forward. Catherall played with verve, as usual, while the speed of Serpico and Mayer made defenders’ antennae go up more than a few times.

Fremd will benefit in future matches from the services of electric All-State forward Gwen Zimmerman. The sophomore missed the match to compete at the Class 3A Lake Zurich Sectional for girls track and field and qualified for the state meet for the second time. She will compete as the second leg of Fremd’s 1,600-meter relay (runnerup time of 4:04.12).

New Trier, seeded first in its Class 3A sectional, faces 16th-seeded Senn in a Niles North Regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday (May 15); Senn edged Mather 1-0 in a play-in match Friday.

Fremd, seeded second in the Class 3A Hersey Sectional, will play host and 13th-seeded Buffalo Grove in a regional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday; Buffalo Grove advanced to the match after topping Wheeling 3-0 on May 10. 

Fremd beat visiting Buffalo Grove 2-0 in a Mid-Suburban League match on May 1.

Footnotes

New Trier defeated host Fremd 3-2 in last spring’s meeting in Palatine. Noble’s brace paced the Trevians. … The sound of the ball off the foot of Dold sounds different, plain and simple. Whether she’s using an instep or the area featuring eyelets and laces to pass or shoot, Dold produces an oxymoronic sweet-spot thud that sounds a lot like the “boom” you hear when a firework gets launched at a Fourth of July show. “It’s sounds that way because Honor is so strong,” Burnside said. … A banner draping the fence behind an end zone at Robert Naughton Field reads, BE BRAVE BE KIND BE PROUD. It could add a warning to New Trier’s playoff opponents: BE AFRAID. … “Tonight was an absolute test,” a grateful Gillespie said of the invaluable playoff tune-up vs. the perennially powerful Trevians. “We do well under pressure, and we showed that in the first half.” Added Kennedy, “Competition like this is good for us.” … Too bad for soccer fans that the gifted Zimmerman was a track scratch Friday night. “We’re all pulling for Gwen,” Gillespie said before finding out Zimmerman had become a two-time state track qualifier after the races at Lake Zurich.

Starting lineups

Fremd
GK Emily Gordon
D Gemma Gillespie
D Lia DiGirolamo
D Bella Scesniak
D Maddie McMillan
MF Sophia Kennedy
MF Cami Tofilon
MF Natalia Wala
MF Sami Serpico
F Ava Catherall
F Lily Mayer

New Trier
GK Annie Fowler
D Honor Dold
D Kennedy Colegrove
D Clara Deliduka
D Basie Shannon
MF Sybil Evans
MF Annie Paden
MF Maria Petrakis
F Jaime Elias
F Josie Noble
F Charlotte Dellin

Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Josie Noble, sr., F, New Trier; Gemma Gillespie, sr., D, Fremd

Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
New Trier — Noble (Paden), 42’
New Trier — Shannon (Evans), 46’
New Trier — Dold (PK), 49’