Girls soccer: Carmel tops St. Viator in key ESCC matchup
Though Carmel Catholic's girls soccer team had the standings edge on St. Viator heading into Wednesday's East Suburban Catholic Conference matchup, history has shown those kind of context details don't matter much when these programs get together.
A shot at winning a conference title, too, was hanging in the balance for the Corsairs as the Lions made the trip to Mundelein.
And Carmel ended up enhancing its league chances by pulling away with a pair of second-half goals in a 2-0 victory.
The Corsairs (8-4-3, 5-0-1) clinched at least a share of the ESCC crown. Carmel has a game remaining, against Marian Catholic on Monday afternoon. Nazareth, with a loss and tie in the conference, has a meeting remaining with St. Viator (7-5-1, 3-2).
"This was a very, very big win, because we're at the end of the conference now," Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. "It puts us in the position that we're going to win it. The math isn't done yet and we have to beat Marian Catholic."
Haley Miller and Skyler Thomas scored for the Corsairs scoring, and Sophia Sarkis earned the shutout with 3 stops in goal.
"(Carmel) was a pretty good team to go against," St. Viator coach Mike Taylor said. "First half, we were a bit out of synch. Start of the second half, we got things going - we started to put things together. But then (Miller) put the ball into the back of the net. We don't score a lot of goals, and then we were chasing."
Miller netted her third goal of the season by gaining possession of a missed clearing attempt by St. Viator, putting the Corsairs up 1-0 in the 52nd minute.
About six minutes later, Carmel's Riley Harmon placed a slotted ball up the middle. Skyler Thomas ran on to it, made a move and got around St. Viator keeper Anna Johnson (4 saves).
"It was nice that we found the back of the net twice in the second half," Krawzak said. "Our defense played great in the back. There weren't too many shots that the defense had to stop. They were staying organized in the back."
Those in the Corsairs' back line included Miller, Ali Cepon, Ciara Thomas and Lily Sykes.