Wildcats top Huskies at invite

Playing doubles was a whole new ballgame for Neuqua Valley's Ali Peters, but one she wants to get to know better.

Peters, who has been playing first singles for the Wildcats, was teamed for the first time with experienced doubles player Sarah Eid, and the two finished in second-place in first doubles at the Naperville North Invitational on Saturday, and helped Neuqua to its first girls tennis tournament championship in an evenly matched field.

The Wildcats, who received valuable wins from everyone in their lineup, scored 30 points to win the title, but host Naperville North was just 2 away with 28 points, Lyons Twp., which won both first doubles and second singles, finished just behind the Huskies with 27 points followed by Downers Grove South and Hinsdale South with 24 points. After that came St. Ignatius (16), Crystal Lake Central (10) and Naperville Central (8).

"Winning against Naperville North in the semifinals was huge because they're in our sectional," said Peters, a sophomore.

Everything was going well until the Wildcats duo was defeated 6-0, 6-1 in the finals by Tina Harazin and Elise Woulfe of Lyons Twp.

"Until then we were doing very well at the net," Peters said. "But against them it didn't matter how good you were at the net, you were a target. They were good everywhere. We just need more time together."

"In that match they poached and we made a lot of mistakes," Eid said. "They played smart and aggressive tennis."

Neuqua Valley coach Trudy Bennorth thought the Peters-Eid combination looked strong.

"Ali is really a good doubles player," Eid said. "She's strong the net and she's very athletic. We just have to work more on our strategies. But she's a fast learner."

"Sarah is smart with formations," Peters said. "Doubles can be intimidating. I prefer to have my space in singles, but it's nice to have someone to talk to on the court, and I plan to play college tennis, so I have to learn how to play doubles."

Neuqua Valley's only first-place finish came at third doubles, where Robin Harland and Brittany Reece defeated Emily Mendes de Leon and Virginia Luchini of Naperville North in the finals 7-5, 6-2.

"We work well together on the court," Reece said. "She has a great forehand and my backhand is very strong."

"We really had a great second match (against St. Ignatius)," said Harland, a freshman. "There was a lot of pressure but we stayed aggressive and consistent and stuck with it to the end. "Brittany helps me and encourages me and that gave me a lot of confidence today."

Bennorth was pleased with the entire team effort that produced the championship.

"We have a lot of different people who can do a lot of things well," Bennorth said. "I can mix-and-match and I feel lucky to be able to do that. We're strong from top to bottom."

Downers Grove South's Jenny Hois remained unbeaten this season with a comfortable win at first singles, while Hinsdale South's Megan Devine and Tiffany Wakim won second doubles and the Hornets' Deepa Ramadurai finished ahead of the field at third singles. Alexis Reisch of Lyons Twp. was the second-singles champion.

-- Neil Shalin

Boys soccer

Carmel 3, Benet 0:ŒEver since coach John Halloran took over the Carmel program four years ago, there's been one team standing in the Corsairs' way.

That team has been Benet. The meetings under Halloran's watch frequently end in a tie or a loss for the Corsairs.

But on Saturday morning Carmel changed its tune and shut out Benet 3-0 in an East Suburban Catholic Conference game in Mundelein.

"To get a win over a team like Benet is a real accomplishment," Halloran said. "They're quality year after year. It's been an evenly matched rivalry between both teams. Henry (Wind) runs a real class program and is fun to play against -- it's a friendly rivalry."

Carmel moves to 11-4-2 overall and 5-1 in the ESCC, while Benet falls to 5-8 and 4-3 in league play.

"It was a real nice win for us," Halloran said. "Our speed of play was probably our best all season. We've still got a half-step of improvement going into next week and the week after, before the playoffs."

Offensively, the Corsairs have picked up their game of late. They followed a 5-0 thumping of Notre Dame on Wednesday and three more tallies against Benet.

Corsairs senior Ricky Kolb scored the opening goal in the 25th minute on a header courtesy of an Edwin Lagunas free kick.

"Edwin Lagunas played a nice ball to the back post," Kolb said. "I just got the touch and put it in. It all comes through with tenacity getting to the ball."

Lagunas scored his 14th goal of the season in the 71st minute. He took a pass from Bobby Gas and fired a 25-yard strike for a 2-0 Carmel lead.

Senior John Zeffery added an insurance goal off a Kurt Houghton throw-in with a couple of minutes remaining.

Carmel keeper Joe Ferrari earned his third straight shutout and eighth of the season making after 5 saves against Benet.

"It seems like everybody is making history on us this year," Benet coach Henry Wind said. "We need to play with more energy and fire. We do have a lot of guys hurt. Once a team scores on us, the game is over, because we don't score."

-- Rusty Silber

Naperville Central 3, Lincoln-Way East 0:ŒArt Garza had a hat trick off 2 assists from Jerry Maddi and 1 from Joe Wehrli as the Redhawks won a nonconference game.

Quincy Tournament: Neuqua Valley followed Friday's 3-1 quarterfinal win over Vianney (Mo.) with a third-place finish at the downstate tournament.

Ranked 10th in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, in Saturday's semifinals Neuqua lost 2-1 on penalty kicks to No. 8 Rockhurst (Mo.), which went on to defeat No. 6 Christian Bros. College High (Mo.). Bret Hruby scored for the Wildcats.

Hruby scored 2 goals and Bryan Gaul and Ryan Stainer each had 1 as Neuqua (12-1-3) defeated No. 7 Granite Bay (Calif.), 4-1 for third place. Goalkeeper Jack Turanchik made 5 saves.

Boys cross country

At Niles West:ŒThere was not a lot of extra running room for area runners as they set out for the 37th annual Patrick Savage Invitational.

With a total of 38 teams running in one of the largest meets in the United States, Warren rose to the top of the White Division standings in the 3-mile race at Niles West.

The Blue Devils took home the championship with 107 points as junior Karsen Green led Warren with a first-place time of 15:20.

Lake Park was a dominant force in the Red Division standings as the Lancers captured that title by a 21-68 margin over runner-up Leyden.

Grayslake Central (105 points) had a solid fourth-place showing in the Red Division while Prospect (117 points) used a substitute lineup to place second in the White Division.

Green had to battle down to the wire on the flat course Saturday, but he was able to hold off Willowbrook's Jeff Stapleton by five seconds for the individual crown.

"I wasn't as nervous as I usually am because I've been doing pretty well and with 800 meters left I just went and I didn't look back," said Green, who is aiming for the state meet this fall. "This whole week we've been focusing on running as a pack and our pack was running 5:20 at the mile mark."

Green had plenty of support on this sunny day as teammates Spenser Simon, Steve Walz, and Danny Kleine helped carry the Blue Devils to the title.

"We're kind of surprised, and after the race finished we thought we would be in the top five, but I had no idea we would finish this high," said Warren coach Bill Dawson. "Karsen did what he's been doing all year and I think everybody is starting to close the gap on him a little bit."

Behind the duo of Alex Rummelhart and Luke Nally placing 1-2 in the Red Division, Lake Park was very impressive along with Steve Krauss in fifth, Casey Fergus in sixth and Ryan Jorgensen in seventh.

"(Rummelhart and Nally) have both been kind of pushing each other all year long and today was one of the more successful runs we've had as a team," said Lake Park coach Kevin Johnson. "Our 3-4-5-6 was a good pack and we had three sophomores in our top five today."

-- John Bumbales

Girls cross country

At Niles West:ŒOne of the largest meets in America brought out some tough competition at the 37th annual Patrick Savage Invitational.

The huge two-division race featured a total of 34 teams competing on the 3-mile course on the grounds of Niles West, including one entry from Wisconsin.

DuPage County power Lake Park was the class of the field as the state-ranked Lancers rolled to the championship of the Red Division with 27 points.

In the White Division, Woodstock was a dominant force as the Blue Streaks captured the first-place trophy by a 25-75 margin over runner-up St. Viator.

Lake Park's Lindsay Flannagan led the Lancers' surge with a winning time of 17:50 in the Red Division which was the second best time to Woodstock's Kayla Beattie who won the White Division in 17:37.

"(Flannagan) ran very well and she broke the school record so you can't get any better than that," said Lake Park coach Harvey Braus, whose team is ranked third in Class 3A. "All of the 10 girls in the race ran their best time of the season and we had seven of our kids in the top 12 spots."

Warren did not have its full lineup available for the race, but the Blue Devils still placed fifth in the White Division with 161 points. Hinsdale South placed third in the Red Division with 93 points followed by Leyden (120) in fifth, and Grayslake Central (198) in seventh.

"I just took the week off to focus on training," said elite Warren runner Heather Olson. "We're getting ready for next week and the rest of the season."

St. Viator's strong effort was led by junior Amanda Kompanowski's fourth-place finish in the White Division while Leyden junior Jaime Johnson added a fourth-place run in the Red Division.

"I think they did very well today and I think they are going to improve a lot still," said St. Viator coach Tony Peso. "Amanda (Kompanowski) will do even better and I think she can break 17 minutes."

Grayslake Central was once again led by senior Daisy Brey in 13th place for the Rams.

"Daisy ran a good race and this was her best time ever," said Grayslake Central coach Joel Peebles. "Laura Sloan made a big improvement from here last year and Erika Garcia ran her best time of the year."

In the White Division, Warren freshman Gabby Nystrom held off St. Viator freshman Taylor Skala for 12th place. Annie Brandes added a 14th-place finish for the Blue Devils to outdistance St. Viator's Maggie O'Malley in 16th.

-- John Bumbales