Boys soccer: Freeport enjoys winning ride against St. Viator
Freeport made a bus trip of well over two hours for its appearance into the Class 2A Grayslake Central boys soccer sectional semifinal on Tuesday.
It was a much shorter commute for St. Viator, which earned its spot opposite Freeport by winning a regional final in penalty kicks at Vernon Hills on Saturday.
No doubt third-seeded Freeport was enjoying its long drive home after prevailing over fourth-seeded St. Viator 1-0 in Grayslake.
The Pretzels (14-6-3) next play second-seeded Lakes (15-6-1) for the sectional championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at Grayslake Central.
"We've had some games good and some games bad, that's the way it goes," St. Viator coach Mike Taylor said. "We made a stupid mistake and gave up a goal. No communication between the guys and nobody takes leadership. So we move on to next year. We're young - we only have three seniors. We'll work on it from there.
"We just got outworked by (Freeport). We were outhustled, we made a silly mistake and it cost us. We made two the other day and managed to come back (against Prairie Ridge). We couldn't come back here, and sooner or later it will catch up to you."
The Lions managed to put together a run of strong play late in the season and into the playoffs, but that wasn't part of the coach's big-picture plan.
"It should've been there all season long," Taylor said. "But it wasn't. You can't turn it on and off. It's not like a faucet, where you can turn it on and it goes, turn it off and comes back. You have to do it all the time, and you have to do it all year."
Freeport got its goal in the 37th minute of play, when Luiz Ruiz found a loose ball in the Lions' area and chipped it under the crossbar.
St. Viator had several opportunities but couldn't finish its chances.
"I knew that they didn't have a great record but they hung tight against some really good teams this year," Freeport coach Nick Namio said. "We knew that they were going to be pretty talented. To beat a team like that is pretty special for these guys. We just do one thing - we work hard and try to be dangerous early.
"I really hated the drive to get here - but I love the fact that we get to come back here on Friday."