Girls soccer: Thomson's trick helps Maine South past Lake Zurich
With the North Suburban Conference girls soccer race settled, Lake Zurich has changed focus.
But the picture didn't get much clearer after a 3-1 loss to Maine South on Saturday in a nonconference matchup in Park Ridge.
The Bears had been playing some high-quality soccer recently, which led to a run toward to the top of the NSC standings. But a 3-1 loss to Libertyville on Thursday opened the door for Warren to clinch the league crown.
To Lake Zurich coach Mike Castronova, the reason behind the recent struggles is pretty simple.
"We're just playing some good teams," he said. "We know throughout the season, you're going to find some highs and lows, maybe some bumps. We'll bounce back with two games before we get ready for the playoffs. That's what they're there for - to get ready for the postseason.
"We'll go back to the drawing board and we'll learn from this. We just have two more to right the ship, and then the playoffs."
The Bears (14-5) host Mundelein on Monday before closing out their regular-season schedule at Carmel Catholic on Thursday.
On Saturday, Lake Zurich grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute after Rebecca Kubin was taken down in the penalty area by a Maine South defender. Kubin stepped up and converted the penalty kick for her 25th goal this season.
Maine South (10-4) had to play the rest of the contest a player down, with just 10 on the field. Lake Zurich had everything going its way at that point, with a strong wind behind it for the final 40 minutes.
"(Emma Thomson) was the big difference in the game," Castronova said. "I thought we had her covered, but she was able to get past our defenders with 3 goals. We talked about keeping possession, and we had the man-up, with the wind too (in the second half). But things didn't go our way."
The Penn State-bound Thomson has 23 goals this spring.
First she broke free of a Bears defender and scored on a breakaway in the 34th minute to tie it at 1-1.
In the second half, Thomson took a pass from Lauren May, found some room and netted the eventual game-winner in the 67th minute.
About five minutes later, it was Thomson again, this time with a nifty move in the box off a pass from Hannah Schilling.
"(Lake Zurich) was an awfully good team," Maine South coach JJ Crawford said. "By far, they're the overall fastest team we've played.
"So, being down a man, I thought it was going to be a long day. Thomson is just that good of a player and a goal-scorer. We haven't had a player like that in a number of years."