By Dominic Scianna

“I think it’s written in the stars, I really do,” said senior forward Grace Carman of her Lane Tech girls soccer team’s 2-1 victory over top-seeded New Trier on May 31. 

The victory advances Lane (21-2-2) to the supersectional round of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state playoffs.

That feat not only kept Lane’s season alive but was historic on two fronts; The first was this is the farthest the program has ever been in state playoff competition, and more striking was the fact that it was the first time a Chicago Public League team had ever gone this far in the long and storied history of varsity girls soccer. 

To get there, the Champions had to fend off second-seeded Evanston in penalty kicks 4-3 after a scoreless regulation game in their sectional opener. That win, the third consecutive playoff win over the Wildkits set up a matchup with their nemesis the past two seasons, the Trevians of New Trier, who have had Lane’s number in the last two state playoffs.

“The familiarity helps with the two teams playing each other seven times in the past three years,” Lane manager Sean Harkness said. “It’s new kids all the time but to finally get one over on them in this type of environment felt just amazing.”

New Trier drew first blood on a goal by sophomore Addy Randall with 11 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the first half to take an early 1-0 lead, but Lane struck back on a penalty kick goal by senior midfielder Jessica Carlson with 6:15 to play before halftime. 

“Jessie (Carlson) got fouled and she asked me if I wanted to take the penalty kick, and I told her it’s yours to take,” Carman said. “She’s been a consistent penalty maker and one of the best players I’ve ever played with, so I knew she was going to score. I had no doubts.”

The sentiment was mutual for Lane and Harkness as the team set up for the penalty kick opportunity.

“Jessica has made so many decisive plays this season. She has the confidence and I think the whole team and I believed she was going to bury it (the penalty kick) into the back of the net,” Harkness said. “From there I felt we got stronger as the game progressed (after tying the score at 1-1). Plus, we played mistake-free in the second half and our defense and midfield play was really strong.”

That defense, anchored by Lane seniors Olive Tinucci, Olivia Field, Alyssa LoVerde, and sophomore Lila Massey, thwarted New Trier at every turn in a well-played sectional final contest by both teams.

The game would be decided in the second half. 

The city champions wasted no time in taking command of the game at 34:13 of the second half on a Carman goal, who has withstood so many highs and lows in her four-year varsity high school career at Lane. 

Now she and the team would finally have a weight lifted from their shoulders in getting over the hump to advance to the next round of the IHSA’s.

“It’s an incredible feeling. My heart has been broken the last two years by New Trier on their home field,” Carman said. “It was an intense game and just to win here in my senior year and write all of our names into the history books, it’s unreal.”

Now Harkness and his squad had to withstand an offensive attack by the Trevians (22-2-3) whose team had only one other loss in another banner year: to Lane in a penalty-kick shootout of the semifinals of the Naperville Invitational on May 2.

Enter senior goalkeeper Cynthia Waller, who had to come up with big saves time and again – totaling nine on the day – to protect the lead as Lane hung on for the record-breaking win.

“We’ve studied so much film on New Trier having played them so much,” she said. “So I’ve learned to stay back in my box and trust my defenders in front of me. We’ve been doing it all season for our school, for the city, and for ourselves and it feels great.”

Next on the docket in the supersectional will be a date with York at Dominican University on Tuesday, June 3. Their work is not done and that’s not lost on Carlson and her teammates. 

“We had a very good schedule this year and had a lot of challenging teams that pushed us hard,” noted Carlson. “To be the best that we can, I feel that experience has given us the confidence to go that much further than we ever have before.”

Photos by Claudia Lubeley, Lane Freshman (IG: @claudia_lubeley_media )