Girls soccer: Crystal Lake South clinches share of FVC title
Solid defense and goalkeeping along with just enough offense.
That recipe worked for Crystal Lake South as the Gators clinched a tie for the Fox Valley Conference girls soccer championship with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Cary-Grove Tuesday afternoon in Crystal Lake.
South (16-1-1, 7-0), with 11 shutouts for the season, can clinch the FVC title outright with a victory at McHenry Thursday afternoon.
"They (the Gators) are an outstanding team," said Cary-Grove coach Ray Krystal. "They have great length with their defense and it is tough to get shots on goal. We did better with our combinations in the second half and created some good shots. This was a playoff-type game at the sectional level. This was a good game for us going into the regionals next week."
Being the last home game for 12 seniors, Crystal Lake South scored with 4:15 elapsed as Jessica Schoenfeldt scored off a perfectly executed corner kick from Jenna Ross.
"Jenna is so great with the corner kicks," said Schoenfeldt. "I just have to make sure I am in the right place to get a good shot on goal. We haven't had the best starts this season so it was important to score early."
The Gators took a 1-0 lead into the halftime locker room.
The second South goal came off an outstanding individual effort from Courtney Sengstock.
Sengstock dribbled past the Trojans (10-3, 6-2) defense and blasted a shot over the outstretched arms of goalie Miranda Malone with 35:45 left in the game to give the Gators a 2-0 advantage.
"The shot came from the weirdest angle," said Sengstock. "I was determined to get a good shot on goal. Everything worked out well."
Cary-Grove, which managed only 1 shot on goal on net in the first half, fired 7 shots on South goalie Annika Sevcik during the final 40 minutes.
With 30:18 left, Isabelle Robinson's header went wide left and Natalie Gallant hit the post with 27:55 remaining in the contest.
Sevcik, who posted her 11th shutout of the season, made her best save of the game with 12:40 remaining.
Cary-Grove's Teagan Jones rifled an uncontested shot from 10 yards out but Sevcik was able to make the diving save.
"Annika has been outstanding all season," said Crystal Lake South coach Jay Mueller. "She has made great save after great save. With Senior Night, it was a day of mixed emotions. We came out slow and a little sluggish. It was good to get the goal early. Cary-Grove was able to come up with some great scoring opportunities but Annika and our defense stood tall."