Carmel ousts Lake Forest
It will be an all-East Suburban Catholic Conference girls soccer sectional final Friday afternoon in Arlington Heights.
Top-seeded Carmel Catholic (17-3-1) will face No. 3 seed St. Viator (17-3-1) at 4 p.m. at Morris Stadium in Arlington Heights to decide who advances into next week's Class 2A supersectional.
Angela Salvi struck late in the first period, and Erin Johnston doubled the Corsairs' advantage just minutes into the second half to help seal a 2-0 victory over the defending state champs from Lake Forest.
"This was a very good win, albeit a hard-fought one against a well-coached, talented team who we knew could be trouble if we didn't do our job defensively for an entire 80 minutes," said Carmel coach John Halloran. "They were a big, strong team who had a great player in Paige Bourne, who is deadly on all of their set pieces. But we defended that so well today."
It wasn't an aesthetically appearling match to watch during the first quarter as each team treaded carefully forward, making sure to keep enough numbers back to defend the counter.
Lake Forest paid special attention to deny senior McKenzie Runyan opportunities against Scouts keeper Cassidy Shaul. Although the Corsairs targeted their top scorer while trying to play through the midfield duo of Salvi and Amanda Lasso, the Scouts did well to neutralize their opponent for most of the first half.
"There wasn't a lot of time or space out there for us, but then we didn't really give them too much, either," said Halloran.
The Scouts (15-6-1) were a threat on the counter - not so much from Bourne, who the Corsairs kept in check, but instead Sheridan Bufe. As the match neared the half-hour mark, the Scouts enjoyed the run of play, using the large surface at Morris Field to stretch the Corsairs in their own end. But Carmel's backline unit of Emma Kobitter, Haley Miller and Mary Murphy stayed solid in front of keeper Christina O'Block.
The Corsairs struck in the 34th minute when Salvi, left alone in close, steered her shot in to help send Carmel into the break with a 1-goal advantage.
"I felt at that time we were the better team, but in this sport that doesn't always mean you score first or win the game, so credit Carmel for finishing their first two chances - that's how you win games at this time of the year," said Scouts coach Ty Stuckslager.
Carmel stunned Lake Forest eight minutes after the intermission, when a throw-in from MacKenzie Sheehan found Runyan, who in turn put Salvi into position to have one from close in on Shaul.
The freshman made a superb save on the Salvi attempt, but in doing so allowed the ball to spill freely at the back post, where Johnston arrived on the tail-end of her run to one-time her shot into the back of the net.
"I knew the opportunity might be there for me, and that's why you never stop running toward the goal when there's a shot on frame," said Johnston, who has committed to attend Marquette University after another year at Carmel.
A terrific crossfield serve from Kendall Hoke to Sheridan Weiss nearly found the foot of the junior at the back post, which could have cut the Corsairs' lead in half at 58 minutes. But the Scouts were unable to get sustained pressure at O'Block.
With Lasso winning nearly every ball in the middle of the park, and the Corsairs still getting forward in the attack, Lake Forest could not stop Halloran's club.
"You're always nervous in games like this, but the girls came out and did what was needed, especially in the second half when we played our best soccer to help us move on," Halloran said.