Girls soccer: Mundelein falls short against Lake Forest

It was a good run at the North Suburban Conference title for Mundelein in girls soccer.

The Mustangs had put themselves in the race by competing well against Warren and Lake Zurich down the stretch.

But Mundelein gave up a goal late to visiting Lake Forest on Thursday, falling 1-0 in an NSC contest in Mundelein. And that outcome effectively drops the Mustangs (7-3-3, 3-2-1) out of title contention.

In other league games, Libertyville (7-4, 4-2) got past Lake Zurich (14-4, 4-2) 3-1, and Warren shut out Zion-Benton 9-0. All of which leaves the Blue Devils (16-1-1, 5-0-1) as the NSC champions.

"We knew that we had to win out with one loss," Mundelein coach Ernie Billittier said. "I believe we had a chance (at the NSC title) and I believed we had a chance to win this game, all the way down to the last minute. It definitely hurts. But now we can use our next games against Lake Zurich and Crystal Lake Central to prepare us for Highland Park in the first round (in the regional). So now our focus changes."

Mundelein also had its vision changed following a 4-0 defeat to Libertyville on Tuesday night. But the Mustangs had a much better effort against Lake Forest (9-4, 4-2).

"I'm really pleased with the way responded after Tuesday," Billittier said. "We knew that Lake Forest was going to be a quality team. I thought for long stretches of the game we were very organized. I still think we were a couple passes away from building an attack or getting a lot of numbers in the attack.

"Our girls created enough chances to score goals, we just didn't put it away. We just got hurt at the end. Still, the energy and the spirit was much better than Tuesday night, and that's something we can build on."

The Scouts found their game-winning goal in the 72nd minute as Delaney Williams took a pass from Mary Gregg, took the ball down the right side of the penalty area and struck and angled shot. It was Williams' 10th goal this spring.

"The game was playoff intensity," Lake Forest coach Ty Stuckslager said.

Mundelein's defense made it difficult throughout, as Lexi Brown, Hadlee Linane, Molly Mishler and Nicole Robb were staunch in front of keeper Lexi Pawlowski (4 saves).

"Our back four all year have put a lot of minutes on their legs," Billittier said. "We don't rotate our backs that much. But they're smart, organized and they battle. As long as they're locked in, we're going to have a chance. I believe in our back line and our goalkeeper."