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Girls soccer: Ludolph gives Vernon Hills a big lift

Alex Ludolph struck once and then again, and the second time proved to be the difference in Saturday's Class 2A Vernon Hills girls soccer regional final.

The sophomore's pair of goals lifted third-seeded Vernon Hills to a 2-1 win over No. 6 Deerfield. Ludolph took control of the ball in the final third of the field in the 78th minute for the game-winner. She made a move away from a defender, then dribbled past keeper Karly Norris and knocked the ball into the back of the net.

Vernon Hills (10-5-3) survived the final couple of minutes to earn a berth in Tuesday's 7 p.m. Deerfield sectional semifinals against No. 2 Wauconda (17-0-1), which shut out Antioch 2-0 in the Antioch regional final Saturday.

"In the last 10 minutes, we dug deep and picked everything up," said Ludolph, whose 2 goals gave her seven for the season. "I was working hard to go after the ball. We've worked hard on breakaways all season. When the keeper comes out, the best thing to do is to touch it around her. I saw her in the corner of my eye come out, touched it around her and slid it right in the net."

The game was played in a downpour, and lightning delayed the match after the 17-minute mark. A 40-minute delay caused a bit of a momentum to swing in the favor of Deerfield (9-10-1).

"I thought when we scored early it would settle us in," Vernon Hills coach Mike McCaulou said. "But to be honest, (Deerfield) was the better team in terms of the 50/50 balls. They just wanted it more. I don't think they had many chances, but the ball was in our end for a good portion of the last 50-60 minutes."

Ludolph scored the opening goal in the sixth minute. After the delay, the Warriors evened the score at 1-1 in the 18th minute. Haley Emory scored near the back post off a free kick from Mirelle Haas.

The game looked headed to overtime before Ludolph scored late.

"I thought we dominated the game," Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. "(Vernon Hills) got the chance and just finished. It's been the story of our season. We get the chances and we don't finish, but I did like our performance. The first goal was a little unfortunate. We came back after the delay with the intensity and got a nice goal. Then we had chances from there and just couldn't put it away.

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