Loyola tops New Trier, reaches first super

Updated: May 27, 2011 10:10PM

Despite everything they had done this year, Loyola midfield Meeghan Smith said the Ramblers still had a mental-block when it came to archrival New Trier.

Even with the undefeated record, potent offense and defense that had allowed three goals all season, Smith said she and her teammates still felt the Trevians, who had beaten Loyola in the sectional finals the past two years, were the better team.

They don’t think that any longer.

Smith and Carrie Schoeneberger both scored in the first half and Carly Stevens recorded her 24th shutout of the season to lead the No. 2 Ramblers to the first sectional title in program history with a 2-0 victory Friday over the Trevians.

“We wanted this so much,” Schoeneberger said. “We knew last year and the year before, we were waiting for this day to finally get it. It was our time. This is our rival and they played a great game, but we just wanted it more.”

Schoeneberger took a layoff from Smith and blasted a one-time shot from 24 yards that deflected into the top-right corner to give the Ramblers a 1-0 lead 4:52 into the first half.

“Carrie’s been great for three years,” Loyola coach Craig Snower said. “She’s always made this team go. On this team, we say [Stevens] is the backbone, Laura [Gardner] is the goal scorer, Carrie is the engine and [defender] Grace [Smith] is the glue. Those are the four seniors right down the middle and they’ve carried us all year.”

Meeghan Smith made it 2-0 Loyola at the half when she floated a ball inside the near post from a sharp angle 25 yards out on the right flank after she spotted New Trier keeper Laura Martorana off her line.

“I saw she had come out a little too far so I decided to take a shot at it,” Meeghan Smith said. “I was kind of lucky because I wasn’t aiming near post, but it went in.”

Stevens only had to make one save for the Ramblers, but did come off her line smartly to collect the ball in the first half before New Trier’s Haley Rosen had an opportunity to get a shot on goal.

It was the only half-chance the Ramblers’ defense, anchored by Grace Smith, allowed in the game.

“Our defense is a huge part of our success this season, they’re everything,” Stevens said. “They were phenomenal and barely allowed any shots.”

Martorana made six saves for New Trier (18-3-7).

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