Boys soccer: Strong follow-up effort from Mundelein
Mundelein's boys soccer team stepped up for a second straight game and pulled off a 3-0 win over Niles North in the Glenbrook South tournament on Thursday night.
Dominic Cristino, Daniel Bronfeyn and Nick Ramirez netted goals for the Mustangs (3-0, 2-0 in the invite).
"It's definitely a good win for us," Mundelein coach Ernie Billittier said. "I thought (Niles North) was very well-coached, and they looked organized. They were playing out of the back. For most of the first half, they had more possession, and it took us a while to settle down. I was pleased that we were able to get some goals in the second half and respond."
Mundelein has held its last three opponents to two goals. Mustangs keeper Eric Muniz made 2 stops in earning the clean sheet against Niles North (6-3, 0-2).
Cristino scored the opening goal in the 24th minute by finishing a loose ball that wasn't cleared out of Niles North's side of the field.
"The goalie came out and I guess he missed it," Cristino said. "The ball came right to my feet, I could have let it roll past me, but there were two defenders there. I basically trapped it, turned and shot it in."
The Mustangs made it 2-0 in the 57th minute, as Bronfeyn scored after taking a pass from Elliot Sachnoff.
About eight minutes later, Ramirez scored Mundelein's second goal of the half.
Mundelein next plays Wheeling at 8 a.m. Saturday, with the winner to play in the championship game.
Loyola 2, Stevenson 1: Stevenson lost a lot of players to graduation, but the Patriots don't appear to have missed a beat.
They put forth a strong effort for a second straight day but gave up a late goal in losing to Loyola Academy in pool play of the Titan Invitational at Glenbrook South on Thursday.
"I'm happy," Stevenson coach Mark Schartner said. "We created a boat load of goal scoring chances and that's great. We played awesome. We knocked the ball around and we played our system. We kept control of the game."
Only the late goal cost Stevenson (1-1).
"It's a little difficult at times to play against a team that flushes it long," Schartner said. "They got their break and their one chance. We're doing the right things and are in the right positions. We didn't finish our unbelievable chances."
On the game-winner, the Ramblers' David Gripman took control of the ball from beyond midfield. On the run, he beat a couple of players and then knocked in a shot in the 68th minute.
"We dealt with Stevenson pretty well on the defensive side of the ball," said Loyola Academy coach Baer Fisher, whose team improved to 3-0-1 and 1-0-1 for the invite. "Our group in the back and our keeper (Jack McMenamin) did a great job back there."
Gripman opened the scoring for the Ramblers in the 22nd minute. The Patriots bounced back behind the efforts of Ben Brandt, whose shot into the top corner of the net came after a pass from Anthony Watrach in the 53rd minute.
"We have a ton of young guys with freshmen and a bunch of sophomores and juniors that have stepped up from last year," Brandt said. "We don't have too many guys that were starters last year. It's definitely a learning process. We've had a long preseason and a ton of guys are stepping up, in the starting positions and coming off the bench. We're a deep team."