St. Viator bounces back against Grayslake North
Second-half goals from Lauren Kohn and Kayne Stanley rescued No. 3 seed St. Viator from elimination Wednesday night as the Lions fought back to defeat No. 2 Grayslake North 2-1 in a thrilling Class 2A girls soccer sectional semifinal at Morris Stadium in Arlington Heights.
The Lions advance to a 4 p.m. Friday finale in the own sectional against East Suburban Catholic Conference champion Carmel (17-3-2), which beat Lake Forest 2-0 in the first match of the day.
"As we always say this time of the year, we'll take an ugly win as long as we go through, and tonight was just that," said Lions coach Mike Taylor, whose team started brightly but soon saw the light dim as the Knights (19-4-2) found their pace after the first quarter-hour. "We had our chances to put one or two away, but when you don't, you allow a team to stay in it long enough to get some confidence - and they were a very good team, and one that almost got us tonight."
The Knights' back line of Morgan Lyon, Kayla Hartigan and Ashleigh Hansen were put under pressure right from the opening whistle, but the trio weathered the early storm as Grayslake North struggled to tame a rampant attack from the Lions (17-3-1).
North also had its troubles just after intermission and was fortunate not to allow the first goal of the match during the first 10 minutes. Kohn had a chance against Knights keeper Megan Davis, and Molly Murphy fired wide moments later before Maggie Leazer just missed at the back post on an inward-swinging corner from Emma Henry.
"We've got to put one of those away," said Taylor. "We didn't, and they did, and suddenly we're chasing one goal."
Sophomore Sydney Paez provided the inspiration for the Knights from box to-box, giving North more control at midfield thanks to her ball-winning and distribution skills, which helped pry open the Lions' defenders.
"Even as a freshman last year Sydney played like that, and we're fortunate to have her around for two more years," said Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe.
Knights scoring leader Sami Villwock, kept in check for most of the first hour, nearly broke through in the 53rd minute when she took an early ball out of the back down the left side, forcing Lions keeper Anna Johnston to venture far out of her box in an attempt to cut the angle.
Minutes later, Villwock redirected a low-driven free kick from Lyon up and over Johnston at 55 minutes.
"I honestly thought after Sami's goal we were going to win," DeCaluwe said. "There was so much momentum and energy going in our direction, and it felt like we could carry that all the way through."
The Lions, whoever, equalized 10 minutes later when North allowed Kohn too much space and time to turn, and she drove her 22-yard blast out of the reach of Davis.
Six minutes later, Grayslake North fell behind for good when Stanley thumped the game-winner just inside the far post off another marvelous corner from Henry.
"I always look for either Maggie (Leazer) or Kayne when I take our corners, and tonight I found Kayne when we really needed it," said Henry.
Paez rattled the bar as the Knights nearly drew back level moments later, but that was as close as North got.
"Maybe 1 inch and Sydney goes into the back of the net - who knows? But two mistakes turned into 2 goals, and our season ends," said DeCaluwe. "But what a year we had, and what a great group of players to be around all season long."
The Lions next look to avenge a 6-1 pounding they took from Carmel during the regular season, which ended St. Viator's hopes of at least a share of the conference crown.