Girls soccer: Lakes sails, powered by Pighini
As the wind soars, so too does the Lakes girls soccer team.
The Eagles' Bella Pighini, who had been limited by a knee injury over the last week, entered Saturday's match in the second half and contributed 30 minutes of time.
It turned out to be just what Lakes need, as the second-seeded Eagles breezed past No. 10 seed Manteno 2-0 in the PepsiCo Tournament semifinals at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.
The Eagles earned a spot against No. 1 seed Niles West in one of five championship games to be played at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 23 at DePaul University. Niles West edged No. 4 Morton 2-1 in the other semifinal.
"It was a good game but it's too bad that we can't use more control to get more goals," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "I wish we scored more, just because we'd put ourselves in position to score some. Our defense was stellar and we didn't give (Manteno) anything too dangerous. Manteno was a nice team and a worthy competitor.
"I'm just glad we can play at DePaul. It will be a fun experience for the girls to play in the city, and at a college campus."
The very windy conditions made it tough to play with precision, so the Eagles had to alter their gameplan against Manteno (8-3).
"In the first half we had to get it low, get the ball to the wings and keep it on the ground," Kullby said. "Second half, we got away with getting more pressure by putting more balls in their end with throw-ins - then you try to play it on the ground. I thought the girls moved the ball pretty well at times."
Pighini was able to provide a bit more energy up top for Lakes in the second half.
"I had injured my knee - I have a stress fracture in the bone of the knee," Pighini said. "Honestly, it's been from lifting, but it has been bugging me for a while. I wanted to play this game because I knew it was the semis.
Pighini put the Eagles on the board first with a header after Hannah Morway provided a cross in the 50th minute.
"This whole season we've been struggling with finishing crosses," Pighini said. "So I knew that was my opportunity to pounce on it and hit in. I knew that Hannah (Morway) sends some good balls, so I wanted to get something on it."
Pighini scored again in the 80th minute, this time set up by Liz Tovar.
Eagles keeper Molly Bakrins earned the shutout with 4 stops and outstanding defense from Morway, Izzy Quaranta, Jacque Pettigrew and Lindsey Smith.
"Lakes was a good team and they hold the ball very well," Manteno coach Justin Emerson said. "Their two center-backs (Quaranta and Pettigrew) made it really tough for our forwards. We're a team that sits back and defends. Then we like to hit on counters, shooting the ball up to our forwards. Lakes defended us really well and limited our attack. For a final four game here, it was a really good game."