Girls soccer: Heading for playoffs, Warren gains momentum

Every team would prefer to be playing its best at the end of the regular season, with the playoffs right around the corner.

Warren's girls soccer team seems to be fitting that mold nicely.

The Blue Devils picked up a 1-1 draw against a very competitive Deerfield team in a nonconference matchup in Gurnee on Friday night.

The Blue Devils (8-10-3) are unbeaten in their last five games, having gone 3-0-2. They next host Palatine in the Warren regional, in a Class 3A semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

"We were close in a lot of games we've played leading up to the last couple of weeks," Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. "All the pieces were sorting themselves out. It just kind of clicked and we settled in with a little confidence."

Freshman Cate Cullison scored the Blue Devils' goal in the 11th minute. It was her 15th of the season, and the seventh in the last four games after hat tricks against both Stevenson and Zion-Benton. Cullison's goal was on a header set up by a cross from Elizabeth Weinberg.

"(Elizabeth) was able to send the ball to me," Cullison said. "I was in the right spot at the right time. I don't know if it's instinct, but it's been a team effort."

Deerfield (16-4-3) had beaten Warren 3-2 to grab third place in the Glenbrook Cup just a couple weeks ago. That was the Blue Devils' last loss.

Malori Killoren scored her 23rd goal of the season in the 38th minute for the Warriors to tie it up.

"This was a good game for us, and we've turned this into an end-of-the-season matchup," Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. "It's a really good game against a quality opponent right before the playoffs."

Deerfield, a highly regarded entrant in the Class 2A playoffs, will open the postseason at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the regional it will host against CICS Northtown.