Boys soccer: Freewheeling Libertyville tops Highland Park

Maybe it was fancy footwork or just being fancy-free for Nate Edmunds.

His back touch off a corner kick netted the first Libertyville goal, and the third-seeded Wildcats went to beat No. 15 Highland Park 3-1 in the Class 3A Stevenson boys soccer sectional semifinals in Lincolnshire on Wednesday night.

Edmunds didn't stop after his first tally. He scored another goal and then assisted on the Wildcats' final strike, by Kevin Reilly.

Libertyville (15-3-1) will next face No. 5 Deerfield (17-4-2) in the sectional championship at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Edmunds' terrific night ended the season of Highland Park (7-11-5).

"(The playoffs) get you going," Edmunds said. "You don't want to see it end."

Edmunds opened the scoring in the 18th minute off a corner kick from Liam O'Connell. Edmunds deftly back-tapped the ball through traffic and past the keeper.

"It went behind me and I pulled it around," Edmunds said. "I just flicked it. It's something you do when play in your backyard."

Libertyville held the 1-0 lead at the break and then increased the advantage in the 42nd minute. Edmunds slotted the ball into the back of the net off a low cross from Ryan Wittenbrink. Reilly finished Edmunds' cross in the 74th minute for a 3-0 margin.

Highland Park tallied 20 seconds later as Ethan Feinberg scored off an assist from Justin Nedoss, but Libertyville's defense buckled down after that.

"We looked good and we built nice from the back," Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. "We kept the ball on the ground and finished well. We made it great game. Scoring first against the wind made a big difference. Second half, we let them push up and we countered on two goals. Highland Park worked hard the entire game. They were here for a reason, because they're a good team."

Wildcats keeper Brant Kym made 8 of his 11 stops in the second 40 minutes. He had help from his defense that included Daniel Marks, Grant Widmark, Michael Quigley and Christian Long.

"The conditions were tough with the wind and not ideal," Kym said. "(Highland Park) was definitely bringing a lot of pressure in the second half. We dropped some people back to counter that attack, but the defense was great back there."

Highland Park's postseason run included beating second-seeded Barrington and No. 10 Stevenson in the Giants' own regional final.

"I thought we controlled the play for the first 20 minutes," Highland Park coach Blake Novotny said. "Kudos to (Libertyville). (Edmunds' first goal) was tough for us, and then we gave up an early goal in the second half. (Libertyville) sits back and they have such nice center mids. They just explode out of those positions pushing forward."