Boys soccer: No cause for concern as Carmel handles Marist

Going into Saturday's boys soccer matchup, Carmel Catholic coach Ray Krawzak had some concerns about what might happen.

The Corsairs hadn't played a match in 10 days, and it was Carmel's East Suburban Catholic conference opener.

No worries, though, as Carmel put together a compete effort and shut out Marist 3-0 in Mundelein, providing a bow-tie for the coach on his birthday.

"It was a nice birthday gift," Krawzak said. "I was nervous going into the game. That's probably why it took some time for our offense to figure out its chemistry. We did get the job done and we can't be upset - we have to be happy to the start to the conference schedule."

Carmel improved to 4-1 overall, while Marist dropped to 3-3-1 and 1-1 in conference play.

DePaul-bound Rob Rao opened the scoring in the 11th minute, collecting his seventh goal of the season off an assist from Austin Ehren.

The Corsairs thought they'd increased the margin to 2 in the final 10 minutes of the first half, but the goal was waved off for off-sides.

Carmel finally produced the all-important second goal in the 70th minute, when Rao flicked a header right to Ehren, who took off on a run down the middle and finished the chance.

"I knew Austin (Ehren) was off to my right, but I didn't look up before," Rao said. "I knew he was making that run. I was trying to make it through to him. If he gets by the defender it's a goal."

The Corsairs added an insurance goal five minutes later as Henry Barnes scored after taking a pass from Ehren.

Carmel keeper Ricardo Murua made 5 of his 6 stops in the second half for his first shutout this season. The Corsairs' usual starter in goal, Kyle Knauer, was out with an injury.

Marist had a lot of problems with the attack that Carmel was throwing at it. Keeper John Kennedy made 11 saves against a potent Corsairs offense.

"I think (Carmel) knows how to play on the big field and how to use the space," Marist coach Sean Maxwell said. "When we come up here we have a tougher time with them. Carmel plays hard - aggressive and strong. You know you're going to get a good game when you play them."