Carmel rallies to edge Patriots

The schedule showed a nonconference soccer match between Stevenson at Carmel.

But for Carmel, it was a big victory, as the Corsairs came from behind to edge the visiting Patriots 3-2 on a scorching Tuesday in Mundelein.

"We didn't have a good week last week and we had even a worse week in practice, so they really gutted it out today," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "It wasn't pretty -- we were down 2-0 -- but we found a way to win.

"It was tough out there with the heat so we had guys wanting to come out," Halloran added. "We were subbing as quickly as we could. Our kids have a pretty good fitness level. They played hard and were able to gut it out."

Senior forward Kurt Houghton scored the winner on a breakaway, drilling the ball in from 15 yards out with 24:40 left in the second half.

"I was beating their goalkeeper to the end line all day," Houghton said. "I was getting the ball on the far sideline and was just able to lay the ball into the open net."

Edwin Lagunas had 2 assists for the Corsairs.

"We had beaten them my sophomore year so after losing to them last season, it felt good to beat them," said Lagunas, one of 12 seniors on the Corsairs. "We didn't have our heads down. We kept our heads up."

Stevenson took a 2-0 lead in the 10th minute, as Ross Dickson took a cross from Ryan Duffy and scored.

Later in the half, Colin Pekovitch took a pass from Dickson and dribbled the ball past the Carmel keeper to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead.

Carmel (2-2-1) scored its first goal with five minutes left in the first half when Ari Sandoval knocked in his own rebound off the far post .

The Corsairs tied the game at 2-2 when John Zeffery scored off a cross from Lagunas with 27:48 left in the second half.

"This is a play that Ed and I practice a lot," Zeffery said. "He takes the ball down and crosses it to me in front of the goal. It just shows that practice makes perfect."

Stevenson fell to 3-2-1.

"We didn't play good defense anywhere in the field," Patriots coach Mark Schartner said. "We played 18 players out there so we can't blame the heat, nor give our endurance an excuse."