Lagunas, Carmel put best foot forward

Carmel's Edwin Lagunas was an all-area boys soccer player last season, and he started out the new season on the right foot in a season opener on Wednesday afternoon.

It was his left foot, however, that did the damage.

The Corsairs senior made a powerful move into the box, beat a double team and scored, helping Carmel to a 1-1 deadlock against host Glenbrook North in a nonconference game in Northbrook.

"I don't consider myself that great," Lagunas said. "I just play the game how I'm supposed to. They were double-teaming me and I caught them (defenders) making a mistake. Once one forward slipped, it left me wide open."

Lagunas put the Corsairs ahead 1-0 in the 32nd minute with his slippery move on a soaked field.

"It's one of my strongest points to beat defenders," Lagunas said. "I had a chance and saw the (defender) stick his foot out. So I hit a left-footed shot into the lower corner."

Glenbrook North (1-0-1) evened the game at 1-1 in the in the 71st minute, when Danny Ahlering converted a penalty kick. The PK was awarded after a Carmel defender knocked down a Spartans player in the box.

A tie wasn't all that disappointing for the Corsairs in their season opener.

"I thought there was stuff to build off of, and the transition was very good for us," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "There's a lot of things to build on a successful season and we'll go forward from here."

Glenbrook North rebounded from a 2-0 road loss at Lake Zurich and had to deal with a highly experienced Corsairs team.

"Carmel has some really skillful players up top," Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi said. "It was very tough for our defenders to stay with Lagunas.

"They were a good, physical team and were well-coached. They also did a nice job defending us."