Girls soccer: Carmel keeps conference hopes alive with a win at St. Viator
Carmel's hopes for a second consecutive girls soccer league title are not gone just yet after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over St. Viator on Tuesday afternoon in Arlington Heights.
The win keeps the Corsairs (10-2-3, 3-1-1) within reach of first-place Benet (4-0-1) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference race, while ending any chance for St. Viator to squeeze its way into the conversation for top honors.
"It was a big win for us, but it's still Benet unless something happens in the next week of the regular season," said Carmel coach Ray Krawzak, who returned to the soccer park he played at under long-time Lions coach Mike Taylor.
St. Viator dropped to 2-2-1 in the ESCC and 4-9-2 overall.
"It wasn't very pretty out there today, but you kind of expect that when you come here to play your biggest rival, and where there is so much on this one particular game as well," said Corsairs backline standout Haley Miller, who along with Grace Nolan and Ali Cepon kept the quality chances at keeper Tina O'Block to a minimum while Lions keeper Colleen Gallagher stayed very busy in a terrific effort at the other end.
"Colleen had an amazing day for us," said Lions assistant coach T.J. King. "She likely kept two, three out of the back of the net to help keep us in it and with a chance to at least get back even in that second half."
Both teams began full of nerves, as evidenced by a rash of wayward passes and inability connect, particularly through the middle of the park.
Carmel was the first to hint at a goal when a nicely orchestrated counter from Lily Sykes and Kathleen Graham ended with Angela Salvi having her attempt turned away by Gallagher at 12 minutes.
Graham forced the Lions' keeper to save in the 27th minute, just before Cepon tricked her way inside the box - only to have her shot graze the bar.
Gallagher was fearless when she stopped a point-blank drive from Graham as the Corsairs' rampant attack began to hit another speed. Minutes later, the lone goal of the match came from Graham after the visitors kept the action alive inside the St. Viator box.
"Their keeper was the star of the game as far as I'm concerned," said Krawzak.
Carmel had the better of the play after the break, but after spending the first quarter-hour of the second half defending, St. Viator came to life. The Lions earned a handful of corners and deep throws and started finding its front-runners, who tried their best to put the Corsairs under pressure.
"We created some chances off a few of our corners and dead-ball opportunities, but we just weren't sharp enough," said King.
A Lauren Kohn corner found the head of Meagan Vicens, whose redirected attempt went wide. A few moments later, Delia Douglas drove her close range shot over the bar.
During a sequence of a handful of fouls and yellow card bookings for dissent, Maggie Leazer had a go on a free kick - but struck her low shot straight into the gloves of O'Block at 75 minutes.
Another corner from Kohn gave Michaela Mueller a opportunity to equalize. But 90 seconds after that missed attempt, the final whistle sent the Corsairs home with an important ESCC win.
"It's always good to come here and win one at St. Viator," said Krawzak. "It was a fun game from start to finish, and it's something the girls should be proud of as well."
St. Viator will host Marist on Saturday, while the Corsairs welcome state power Loyola on Thursday before ending their ESCC season at home this Saturday with Joliet Catholic.