Lakes takes one from Vernon Hills

The Lakes boys soccer team made the best of its opportunities, scoring twice in three minutes in the first half on Thursday afternoon.

Foster Dore and Nick Dydo both scored, and Eagles goalkeeper Wade Parmly earned a clean sheet as Lakes shut out Vernon Hills 2-0 in North Suburban Prairie play in Lake Villa.

"(Vernon Hills) was a very good opponent," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "They were all over us at the beginning, but we had a good plan. They have good possession skills, and good players. I'm just proud of my team and the way they defended.

"We were doing OK giving them shots from long distance - as long as were were putting them under pressure, and not giving them clean shots."

The Eagles (2-4-1, 1-0-1 Prairie) haven't had a particularly good start to the season, with their only previous victory coming over nonconference opponent Maine East, followed by a tie with North Chicago on Wednesday in their division opener. But with this victory that all seems like old news, as Lakes stands unbeaten in division play.

"In many respects it's a great win," Kullby said. "Who knows what we'll see (on Friday) at Mundelein? This was just one game, but the hope isthat this bodes well for future games."

On Thursday, the Eagles opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Zach Espinosa sent a corner kick in front, and the ball found Dore before deflecting off a Cougars defender and going into the goal.

Then, just a few minutes later in the 22nd minute, Lakes forward Dydo took a deflected ball in the back and beat the Cougars keeper Brennan Reback on a breakaway for 2-0 advantage.

Vernon Hills (5-3, 1-1) showed plenty of intensity early on and certainly had its chances to score. Parmly made 8 stops and got plenty of help in front of him from players such as Austin Jones, Marko Novakovis, Anthony Roldan and Nick Rubio.

"As a whole team, we did a very good job with the back line," Parmly said. "All of them do an outstanding job."

Vernon Hills was coming off a 5-goal effort in a come-from-behind victory over Antioch on Tuesday. Though it was a different result on Thursday, Cougars coach Mike McCaulou saw plenty of positives from his team.

"We dominated this one," he said. "When you've been in the game so long, you see the build-up happening. We dictated play (in the first 15 minutes) - we had the ball, and it was 80/20 (possession). In the final third, we're not gritty enough to beat someone 1-v-1, or even if the ball is bouncing in the 6, to go through a player, to go through a ball, to get an ugly goal. All we needed was an ugly goal, maybe."

Most of the Cougars' chances came from long range and ended up hitting the crossbar or going wide.

"We created enough chances for 6, 7, 8 goals in this game," McCaulou said. "When you're not clinical in front of the net that's what happens. That's just soccer.

"It's good for Lakes, coming out and taking advantage of their chances. We've got to get tougher mentally and physically. We have all the potential and the capabilities to be a high-quality team."