Girls soccer: Rejuvenated Carmel too much for Warren

Simply taking some time off seemed to work wonders for Carmel Catholic's girls soccer team.

The Corsairs had been battling through injuries and illness over the last couple of weeks. Then came an unplanned break of nine days, owing to inclement weather.

With a nearly clean bill of health by Friday, Carmel returned to action and ran away with a 6-1 victory over Warren in a nonconference matchup in Mundelein.

"We had a long time off," Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. "I'm happy with it, and it was the first game that we had everybody healthy again. It was nice to see what we look like when we have what we've come to understand is our strongest lineup."

The Corsairs (4-3) broke a three-game losing streak after opening the season with three straight victories.

Zinaya Barnes scored her first two goals of the season and assisted on another. Riley Harmon added a goal and 2 assists, and Skyler Thomas, Morgan Smola and Lucy Tarcha had the other goals for Carmel.

Harmon, a senior midfielder, returned from an injured knee and quadriceps injury after missing a couple of games. She set up the opening Corsairs goal by feeding the ball to Smola, who scored for a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.

"This was my first game back," Harmon said. "I was dying to get back on the field. I was just waiting and waiting. I thought we played well together."

Thomas made it 2-0 just a couple minutes later by taking the ball off a Blue Devils defender and finishing the chance.

Next, Thomas was applying pressure up top on the Blue Devils. She won a ball and found Barnes for a 3-0 advantage in the 35th minute.

In the second half, Harmon set up a play in the 50th minute as Barnes took control of a loose ball in the box and finished her second goal for a 4-0 margin.

Warren (4-7-1) got a goal back in the 60th minute when Emily Soriaga won a tackle outside the penalty area and hit a 25-yard shot under the crossbar.

Carmel got goals from Harmon and Tarcha to close out the scoring.

The Blue Devils were playing their third game in the last four days.

"We do have tired legs and a couple of starters out," Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. "I thought our girls did a nice job of staying positive and keeping up with the attack. Carmel was a really nice team."