Lake Zurich needs no luck in 2-0 victory

Lake Zurich's boys soccer team has enjoyed plenty of success all fall.

The Bears did so again Wednesday night, winning their 13th straight game in windy, rainy and cool conditions.

Lake Zurich racked up its second straight North Suburban Conference championship with a 2-0 shutout of host Lakes in Lake Villa.

"It's a good number (13) and nobody is going to complain about that," Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said. "I'll take it."

The Bears (16-3-2) are the third seed in their own sectional, which begins next Wednesday at 5 p.m. Lake Zurich opens against No 14 Fremd in the Palatine regional

"It was one of our goals to win the conference," Schmitz said. "We've played real well the last couple of weeks. It's tough to do it in a tough conference like the North Suburban.

"Both teams battled hard. Lakes is a very good team and showed it. They brought a lot of guys back and it made it tough to score on them."

Lake Zurich sophomore Eric Pothast scored the first goal in the 27th minute.

The Bears' other tally occurred in the 46th minute, when Tim Kreutz fed a ball to the middle and sophomore midfielder Nick Janus scored for a 2-0 advantage.

"I was able to step in front of the defender," said Janus, who scored his 13th goal of the season. "The conditions were pretty bad and we were slipping out there. I was just trying to make contact with it."

Lake Zurich keeper Taao Scarnato made 2 saves and picked up his 11th shutout.

Lakes keeper Matt Laine had a solid effort in goal with 9 saves.

"We defended well in stretches of the game," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "It's just a matter of having composure in the final third. (Lake Zurich) put pressure in our box and got some bounces to go their way.

"I applaud my team for moving the ball up and down the field against a very good team. It should bode well when we begin the regionals. I think we played them better than a lot of teams played them this year. It was a good championship game."

The Eagles host New Trier at noon Saturday, before starting regional play next Wednesday against No. 7 Grayslake North at 6:30 p.m.