Girls soccer: Goal-oriented Pighini puts Lakes in winning position

Lakes soccer player Bella Pighini has a knack for being around the goal.

Take Saturday's tournament at Lakes, for example.

Pighini, a junior and three-year varsity player, scored the game-winner in the Eagles' 2-1 win over Grayslake North on Saturday. She found the back of the net in the 78th minute with a header. The ball deflected off the hands of Knights keeper Emily Dunne and the crossbar before landing in the net for Pighini's fourth goal.

"I just knew it would be the final (scoring) chance that we would have," Pighini said. "We've struggled a lot with the chances that we've had. I knew that I had to get there."

Lakes finished 3-1 in its tourney, losing only to champion Glenbrook North (6-4, 4-0), which beat the Eagles 1-0 on Saturday morning.

Lakes (5-6-3) settled for second place in the six-team field, and Mundelein finished in third.

"I thought we played really well," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "We took care of our opportunities in the final third a little better. I thought our defense was awesome, and our goalies did really well."

Grayslake North (9-4-2, 2-2 tournament) grabbed a 1-0 lead on Lakes when Cammy Cowperwaite converted a pass from Morgan Lyon. Lakes responded n the 16th minute, when Mikayla Pacourek found an opening in the Knights' defense after taking a slotted pass from Lindsay Smith.

The Knights were on the attack for part of the second half, before the Eagles found the game-winner late.

"We were settling and kind of backed off," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "We didn't play as dynamic up top as we normally do. We backed off and gave (Lakes) too much space. They made us pay. We've got to show up and close teams down under pressure."

• Mundelein won a pair of games at Lakes on Saturday. The Mustangs got past Richmond-Burton 1-0 in penalty kicks, 6-5 in 7 rounds. Mundelein also captured a 2-0 victory over Grant (1-10-3, 0-4).w