Libertyville upset No. 8 New Trier 2-1 on Saturday, Sept. 26, in the final match of the Tournament of Champions at New Trier's Northfield campus. The loss dropped the Trevians to 5-4-2 with IHSA regional play approaching. Chicagoland Soccer first reported the result.

The Wildcats (5-3-3) got goals from Iker Barbella and senior forward Cam Howell. Keeper Lucas Rasmussen finished with six saves. New Trier's goal scorer was not identified in the match report.

The loss extends a slide for coach Matt Ravenscraft's squad. New Trier sat at 5-2-1 through Sept. 20, good enough for No. 8 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 poll. The Trevians have since gone 0-2-1.

The record tells only part of the story. New Trier lost 13 players from last year's regional-final team, seven of whom were starters. The 2026 roster includes six sophomores alongside senior captains Tim Vaughan, Cole Wilkinson, Gordon Evans and Tristan McGrath.

Ravenscraft acknowledged the challenge early. After a 2-1 loss to Morton on Aug. 28, he told Chicagoland Soccer: "This team is hungry to take major steps and see how good it can get."

Vaughan, a senior forward and All-Conference selection last season, spoke about the team's mindset in a Sept. 10 Athlete of the Week feature with The Record North Shore. He said the Trevians' goal is to win a state championship but stressed that building trust with underclassmen is the path to getting there.

Libertyville's turnaround adds context to the result. The Wildcats went 2-15-2 last season under coach Kevin Thunholm and entered 2026 ranked No. 50 in Chicagoland Soccer's preseason poll. They have already won five games after winning two all of last year.

Saturday's match capped the tournament's second edition, which was marred by cancellations due to high temperatures and humidity. The game had been rescheduled from Sept. 1.

As we reported Sept. 24, the Trevians entered the Libertyville game on a losing streak. IHSA Class 3A regional assignments have not been posted. Families can check newtrier.k12.il.us/athletics and ihsa.org for updates as the postseason schedule is finalized.