Pawlowski, Mundelein stop Libertyville in PKs

Lexi Pawlowski helped save Mundelein's season.

The sophomore keeper made 3 quality penalty kicks saves, which turned out to be the difference for the Mustangs on Tuesday in their first postseason girls soccer contest.

Mundelein, a No. 11 seed, rallied from a 2-0 second-half deficit to get past No. 5 seed Libertyville 3-2 (2-0 in PKs) in the Libertyville regional semifinal.

The Mustangs (8-7-6) next meet fourth-seeded Buffalo Grove (13-5-1) in the regional championship at Libertyville at 5 p.m. Friday. The Bison shut out No. 13 seed Prospect (5-14-1) in the other semifinal 3-0.

Pawlowski made 11 stops in the match, including three diving saves in the decisive penalty kicks, during which a kick hit the crossbar and went over.

"I think it's because of practicing a lot," Pawlowski said. "I've never had three in a row. I was guessing the signs and going with the gut. I was seeing how far they step back, and go from there."

The Mustangs' Kelly Grove had the game-winning kick in the fourth round to give Mundelein the 2-0 difference.

Mundelein came back from 2 goals down in the final 10 minutes of regulation. First, Katie Cauble scored on a header from Caitlin Newell's corner kick in the 71st minute. Then Megan Carroll delivered a free kick, tying it at 2-2 in the 77th minute.

The teams played another 20 minutes of scoreless overtime before the penalty kicks.

"It's very characteristic of this team," Mundelein coach Ernie Billittier said. "With the amount of 0-0 ties and 1-0 losses this year ... as a coach, I can't be happier. For these girls, it would be real easy to give in. We fought all year and we haven't gotten many good results. We could've packed it in and, quit but they didn't do that. I'm proud of all them."

Libertville (12-4) seemed to have the match in hand with its two first-half goals. Abbey Peters scored in the 11th minute, and Ellie Daugerdas scored on a header after a corner kick from Kaitlin Considine in the 19th minute.

The Wildcats held that 2-goal lead - that's right, the one that's never safe - into the second half.

"We were talking at halftime, about trying to get that third goal," Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. "Because that 2-goal lead is never safe lead. We talked about not letting them back into the game. I thought we dominated the overtime and we didn't do anything with the penalty kicks. It's very frustrating to get beat like this. Mundelein was pushing forward with numbers."