Girls soccer: Warren can't overcome disadvantage against Lake Forest

Until this point of the season, Warren's girls soccer team had responded in every situation on the field while picking up victories.

But on Thursday night, the Blue Devils faced a new challenge - competing a player down for the final 76 minutes.

Second-seeded Warren still gave Lake Forest quite a game, only to see the No. 10-seeded Scouts pull off a 1-0 victory in the quarterfinals of the PepsiCo Tournament in Gurnee.

Lake Forest (3-1) moves on to play No. 3 seed Metea Valley in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.

"It was a good game and we played well," said Warren coach Ryan McCabe, whose team dropped to 7-1. "Not having all of the players on the field definitely makes it tough for any team to win. Butt I thought we played pretty well."

Warren lost goalkeeper Skylar Reilly in the sixth minute on a play where she came out of the box in pursuit of a ball and collided with two Lake Forest players who were on the attack. It was ruled that it was a goal-scoring opportunity, so Reilly was sent off and the Blue Devils had to play the rest of the match a player down.

"We had to make adjustments right then, and we had to make more at halftime," McCabe said. "I thought the girls responded well to the adjustments but it changed the game plan we set up. You have no preparation to play with 10, but I thought the girls responded very well."

Lake Forest found the one goal it needed in the 37th minute, when Mary Gregg slotted a ball for Delaney Williams up the field and she was able to finish the chance.

The Scouts stayed organized in denying the Blue Devils' attack many times in the second half.

"(Warren) was smart and they've got seniors," Lake Forest coach Ty Stuckslager said. "They have girls straight up the middle and in the back. We had talked at the half that they might push up another so they can be even up with us.

"They were chasing down a man and you can see hat they didn't have the same stuff they usually have. Warren is a dangerous team and they had some chances. I think they had some tired legs. If that situation doesn't happen and they don't go a man down, you get a different result."