Cary-Grove picks up speed with Carmel quad win

Cary-Grove's boys soccer team has been building momentum all season long.

The Trojans added to it Saturday by getting goals from Matthew Scott and Esteban Angeles early in the second half on Saturday morning as Cary-Grove broke away from Carmel Catholic for a 3-1 victory to capture the Carmel Quad championship in Mundelein.

The Trojans improved their winning streak to 11 games after starting the season with a loss to Rockford Boylan.

"It's all been different, and that's the nice thing about it," Cary-Grove coach Mark Olson said. "You never know who's being called upon, and who will capitalize for us. We've scored all different types of goals."

Cary-Grove won its three quad games against Lakes, Von Stueben and Carmel Catholic (4-6-2).

"We're trying to put people in that will give us the best chance to win," Olson said. "That's what is so nice about this team. They chose to be a part of it, and they'll do whatever it takes for the betterment of the team. That's the key to anything, to put the team first."

The Trojans had some difficulty getting going against the Corsairs, first falling behind when Carmel's Scott Cloe scored off an assist from Justin Ehren in seventh minute.

"You have to give Carmel credit, they came out right away," Olson said. "We came out flat and we underestimated them early on in the game. We didn't go out and play smart in terms of trying to understand their tempo. They do have some speedy players."

Cary-Grove tied the game on a goal from Brett Schuerg in the 22nd minute.

In the second half, Scott moved forward from his outside back spot on defense. He was able to create a shot and followed up the rebound for his first goal to put put the Trojans ahead 2-1 in the 42nd minute.

"It was a developing play from the back," Scott said. "I moved up and was able to get a shot off a defender on the first shot that bounced back to me. Then there was a second one, and it went in."

Angeles added a Cary-Grove insurance goal three minutes later to make it 3-1.

Carmel Catholic had no drop-off in effort but couldn't match Cary-Grove's firepower. The Corsairs finished 1-1-1 over its three games in the quad.

"I thought we played well," Carmel Catholic coach Ray Krawzak said. "Cary-Grove was a good team. We made mistakes and they didn't.

"We have had a front-loaded schedule this year, and we're a young team. It's taken a few games to find the rhythm to play they way we should play. I thought we played a good game against a good team like Cary-Grove."

Lakes (4-7-4) rallied back from a 3-goal deficit in the other quad game to get a 3-3 tie with Von Steuben on Saturday afternoon.