Girls soccer: Key NSC win for Lake Zurich
One of the key leading scorers for Lake Zurich's girls soccer team is Kristin Brousseau, who leads the Bears with 16 goals this season.
That total included the game-winner on Tuesday night, as Lake Zurich claimed a 3-1 victory over host Stevenson in a North Suburban Conference battle.
But there's another Brousseau to keep an eye on: She's Haley, a freshman and the younger sister to Kristin. Haley Brousseau scored her fifth goal this season, and Rachel Krueger had the Bears' other goal.
"The team is really supportive and helps me out," Haley Brousseau said. "Being a freshman, sometimes I don't have the confidence. But they help me and give me advice on what runs I have to make.
"My sister helps me out a ton. Sometimes there's a little criticism that gets on my nerves, but it's all for the better. She gives me a whole ton of advice and she has a bunch of experience over the last four years in soccer. I do look up to her as a sister. We both help out each other and do the best we can, on and off the field."
Kristin Brosseau broke a 1-1 tie in the 16th minute, taking a pass from a defender and firing a 20-yard shot into the corner of the net against a strong prevailing wind for a 2-1 lead for the Bears (8-0-3, 5-0).
Haley got her goal in in the 47th minute with an assist from Krueger.
Lake Zurich opened the scoring just three minutes into the contest as Krueger scored after taking a pass from Maddy Piggott.
Stevenson tied the game at 1-1 in the ninth minute when Cassie Farber hit the crossbar on a shot and Krissy Hill ran on to the ball to finish it.
The Bears are unbeaten in the NSC with two conference games remaining. They'll host Libertyville on Thursday and play at Mundelein next Tuesday.
"We knew coming in playing at Stevenson would be a big conference game," Lake Zurich coach Michael Castronova said. "Our girls were up for the game. They knew some of the girls on their team. The wind was kind of crazy today. We decided to go against the wind in the first half and we were able to put 2 in. The girls executed the game plan and we were able to cut down on their chances."
Stevenson (8-4-2, 3-1-1), which recently earned the No. 2 seed behind Lake Zurich in the Libertyville sectional, was playing without three of its starters on the back line.
"This was a day that our lack of maturity showed, because we got some bumps and bruises," said Patriots coach PepeJon Chavez. "We didn't play up, and you have to play up in every conference game, no matter who it is. We're growing to be sitting in the No. 2 seed in our section and played Lake Zurich 3-1, where they had the better of us. It shows that we're still growing.
"There's a lot of meaning in this game. I built a championship mentality into this game, for our team to be prepared. That's so we can be ready for the regionals. I asked all week long for this to be our championship game. If we would've won this game, in all likelihood we could've won the conference. Everything from here is learning, growth - and we grow through pain to get better."