Wilde bros. key Cary-Grove's win at Carmel

Cary-Grove's boys soccer team has been finding the right combination all season long, and it continued to do so Saturday.

Oh, brother, did it ever.

The brother combo of Eric (a senior) and Kevin (sophomore) Wilde has already produced a total of 21 goalsthis fall.

Each had 1 goal and Drew Conner also scored as Cary-Grove shut out host Carmel Catholic 3-0 Saturday afternoon in the final game of the Carmel quad in Mundelein.

“We know each other very well and work well together,” said Eric Wilde of playing with his brother, as well as all his teammates. “Everything flows together, and that takes a lot of hard work and practice.”

Cary Grove, Carmel Catholic (7-4-2) and Lakes (8-6-1) all ended with 2-1 records over the last three days in the quad's round-robin set-up. St. Martin de Porres finished (0-4).

“Our guys kept going and going,” said Cary-Grove coach Mark Olson, whose team suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss to Lakes on Friday night. “The way the kids came back (Saturday), they didn't let it bother them. We kept our focus. The team dynamics and chemistry keeps them together.”

Cary-Grove scored 2 goals in the first quarter-hour against Carmel on Saturday.

Eric Wilde tallied his 11th goal after taking a pass from Zac Solarte in the third minute.

Conner scored on a penalty kick in the 13th minute after a trip in the box.

Carmel Catholic was able to get pressure for the last 20 minutes in the first half but was denied by C-G.

“We have to give credit to Carmel for how they came at us,” Olson said. “We lost our composure for a little bit, but we gained it back. In the second half we got back to what we're supposed to do as a soccer team.”

The Trojans got another goal in the 58th minute. Kevin Wilde hit his 10th of the season on a back-post header following Solarte's corner kick.

Cary-Grove keeper Tom Breen earned his ninth shutout of the season with 6 stops. As a team, the Trojans have allowed just 4 goals over 11 games. Three of the goals came against state champion Rockford Boylan in the season opener.

“Players in front of me are doing good and I try to do what I can for them,” Breen said. “I give credit to my forwards, midfielders and my defense. They are the ones that make my saves easy for me.”

The Corsairs made a strong push in the second half. They had one shot just miss the post, and another rolled along the goal line, but being down by 2 goals made a huge difference as Cary-Grove was able to assume a protective defensive posture.

“We started slow like we've done multiple times this year,” Carmel coach John Halloran said. “Once were down, we're fine and worked real hard. I think we were unlucky and could've brought it back.

“You can't keep having five- to 10-minute spells of not playing. Games go back and forth, and teams get their moments. There was a span that we literally watched people go right past us. Cary-Grove was a good team, they move the ball well and they possess the ball very well. We just played with real poor defense.”