Plainfield North stops Lake Zurich's Showdown run

Just one victory away from reaching the championship of the PepsiCo Showdown, Lake Zurich's girls soccer team was making a push for a game-winning goal.

Instead, Plainfield North found the breakthrough it needed in the final minutes.

The Bears had almost everything go right, with one important exception - a finishing touch. Lake Zurich, the tournament's No. 10 seed, ended up falling 2-0 to No. 3 seed Plainfield North in the tournament semifinals at Olympic Park in Schaumburg on Saturday afternoon.

Plainfield North will meet New Trier (11-0) in the championship game at DePaul University on April 26.

Lake Zurich (7-3-1) had won three straight games in the tournament before their setback.

"It was a good battle," Lake Zurich coach Michael Castronova said. "I thought we put some pressure on them, especially in the second half. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way. I thought the girls played well and it was a good game. Once (Plainfield North) got the first one, we pressed a little bit trying to tie it up. I thought the girls fought hard out there."

It was a scoreless deadlock until the 76th minute, when the Tigers' Sam Elster sent a pass to the right side of the box from up top. Freshman Natalie Auble hit a shot that found its way in for her fifth goal of the season.

Plainfield North added another goal less than a minute later, as Elster came up with a misdirected ball out of the back.

"We were starting to get close to the end," Plainfield North coach Jane Crowe said. "I was starting to think that both teams were playing so solid, it might come down to one play. I was hoping that it wouldn't come down to PKs. But we started to break through late in the game, and we had a great ball across - and fortunately we had somebody on the end to finish it."

The Bears were pushing for a goal of their own and junior midfielder Madeline Blasko set up a few chances in the final third.

"I thought (Plainfield North) was pressuring us really hard," Blasko said. "We were moving the ball around, but they had the extra strep and moving around on us. It felt like we were one-step off. It was frustrating and we wanted it really bad. We worked really hard to get this far."

Lake Zurich won three of the four games in the tournament and hopes to still make good use of what it learned.

"It was a great experience for us and it will help us come playoff time," Castronova said.

• Libertyville finished with a 2-0 victory over Lincoln-Way North on Saturday morning in a Showdown consolation game.

The Wildcats own three of four games and improved to 6-1, with its lone loss Class 3A state champion New Trier.

Maggie Peterson and Annie Thompson each scored goals and Kaitlin Considine had an assist, while Wildcats keeper Laura Janousek earned her third clean sheet by making 3 stops.

"We're banged up and glad to get out with a victory," Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. "It was a tough week for us - happy week, too, but there's a tough week ahead of us."

• Warren couldn't keep pace with St. Charles North in a 3-1 defeat in another consolation match as the Blue Devils (2-5-1) lost for their fourth straight tournament game

Warren got a goal from Valentina Rodriguez off Kaitlyn Chomko's assist.

"There was a lot of experience for the girls, playing against good teams," Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. "What's lacking is some experience from some of the younger players. We did come out today with the passion that I expected."

St. Charles North (6-2-1) managed to win three of its four games over the last week.

The North Stars got two goals from Gia Wahlberg, including one penalty kick, and Hanna Durocher had the Stars' other goal.

"We created different chances and different opportunities," St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. "I was pleased with their effort, and the communication was good. But we want to continue our intensity for 80 minutes."

• Vernon Hills gave it their best shot against Metea Valley and lost 2-1 in tough consolation battle on Saturday. The Cougars split four tournament games and are now 4-6.

Kaitlin Gramins scored the lone Cougars goal off an assist from Natalie Orozco.

"These girls played well and fought against some good teams," said Vernon Hills coach Vince DeLuca. "As a coach, you can't be unhappy - we didn't play a bad game at all."

Metea Valley (7-3-3) got its goals from Alena Sidwell and Abigail Severson. Sophjia Senese assisted on both goals.

"This is a great tournament to be a part of," Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said. "We're always excited to play different teams."