Warren falls in Pepsi semis

Reaching the semifinals of the Pepsi Showdown was a great accomplishment for Warren's young boys soccer team.

The second-seeded Blue Devils ran into one of the top teams in the state Saturday and lost to No. 6 Lincoln-Way Central 5-1 at the Lyons Soccer Complex in LaGrange.

Lincoln-Way Central (10-1-1) will next play top-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South (8-2-1) in the tournament final at Toyota Park next Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Wheaton Warrenville South had a 1-0 shutout over Sandburg in the other semifinal.

Warren (4-6-2) won the tournament last year, but graduation took its toll on a team that reached the Elite Eight.

Lincoln-Way Central led Warren only 1-0 at halftime, before erupting for four goals after the break.

"When we've got our defense in front of us, we can stay organized," Warren coach Jim McNamara said. "When it gets away from us, we struggle. That's the way it's been against the top-notch teams.

"We've given up one or zero goals with the defense in front of us. We're young and we stay competitive throughout. (Lincoln-Way Central) was a quality team."

Tyler Schwede scored the only Warren goal off a Nick Sanchez assist late in the second half.

"They're a better team," Schwede said of the Knights. "They've got a lot more seniors and more experience. We tried our best and played tough, but they beat us."

The Knights' Tim Garland had a pair of goals and an assist. Dave Sayre added a goal and 2 assists. Ben Martinez and Jason Obermeier also scored, and Phil Galounis picked up an assist.

"I thought we played real well in the second half," Lincoln-Way Central coach Dave Radz said. "We knew we had to come out and play. We knew that they won it last year. We wanted to be there (in the tournament final).

"We knew their size and quickness might hurt us. But we were able to overcome that and make it happen."