Carmel ties with Hersey, takes top quad honors

Carmel Catholic's girls soccer team is off to a quick start.

Despite giving up a late goal and ending in a 1-1 draw with visiting Hersey on Thursday night, the Corsairs are unbeaten in their first three games this season.

"Hersey is obviously an excellent team," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "They played us tough. We didn't realize that we had to close the game out."

With a 2-0-1 record, Carmel won its own quad. The Corsairs defeated last year's Class 2A state champion Lake Forest and Prairie Ridge earlier in the week.

"Overall, we had a real good three days," Halloran said. "But it's early and it's about finding where you're making mistakes and correcting them. We still need to do a better job. We're not hurting for talent, that's for sure. It's all about executing."

The Corsairs played the aggressor for most of the match. The tough part for them was trying to get a good shot on goal. Hersey keeper Claire Gritt made 4 of her 7 stops in a scoreless first half.

McKenzie Runyan set up Carmel's only goal in the 53rd minute. She worked her way in and around three defenders in the box, then fed Angela Salvi, who netted her second goal in three games.

"I know that McKenzie can get past those defenders," Salvi said. "I knew I had to get in position to be there for her if she needed me. My thought was to get into an area of field where she could get the ball to me as easily as possible."

Hersey (1-1-1) manufactured an aggressive attack in the later stages of the game. Off a free kick outside the box, the Huskies had a header go over the crossbar. Then in the 73rd minute, Grace Kozurek got free on a breakaway and fired a shot that hit the post.

The tying goal came five minutes later on a counter attack. Kelly Weyhrich led Jessica Schmidt, who found the back of the net.

"I was definitely waiting for that pass," Schmidt said. "I have to give Carmel credit. They have a pretty strong defense. Those girls in the back really hold things together nicely. They were tough to get around."

Hersey had mixed results over its three games. The Huskies had a victory over Prairie Ridge and loss to Lake Forest.

"Carmel has some high-caliber players and they play fast," Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn said. "They pressured really hard and didn't give us much time to think. I knew this would be a test to play Carmel. I believe that we will be OK and could surprise some people."

Lake Forest 2, Prairie Ridge 1: Paige Bourne scored on a penalty kick goal and added an assist for the Scouts.

Adrian Walker had Lake Forest's other goal.