Cats' Novak shows knack for dramatics

It was only a conference crossover against a one-win team, which, granted, is in the same school district.

But to soccer-lover Brad Novak, having to sit out Libertyville's recent match against Vernon Hills was tough to handle.

"That just crushed me," he said. "I hate sitting on the sidelines."

Now, more than ever, the junior forward is playing every game like it's his last, as he said.

He showed that attitude in both of Libertyville's regional games. Novak's goal lifted the Wildcats to a 1-0 win over the host school in the Class AA Lakes regional final Saturday in Lake Villa, three days after he netted both tallies in a double-overtime win over Johnsburg.

"I'm just feeling it," Novak said. "I come out here and play as hard as I can every single game."

Second-seeded Libertyville (12-5), which captured its first regional since 2003, will play No. 6 Lake Forest at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second sectional semifinal at Libertyville High School.

No. 12 Lakes, which won the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division in just its third season as a varsity program, finished 13-9.

"We had a good group of seniors who played with a lot of heart and pride out there and played right to the end," Eagles coach Kevin Kullby said. "I'm very proud of this team and the way they were able to hold their own against some of the best teams around."

Lakes certainly did against Libertyville. Novak finally broke the scoreless tie with 13:05 left.

Ben Julia's curling corner kick found Kyle Gustafson, who flicked a header to Novak, who headed the ball past Eagles keeper Matt Laine and a defender standing on the goal line.

It was Novak's ninth goal and third in two postseason games.

"Beautiful," Wildcats coach Andy Bitta said. "We've been working on our corner-kick plays, putting in different plays. Brad Novak did a great job on the flick there. That's what we've been working on all the time. We spend a lot of time on dead balls, and it looked good today."

While Libertyville generated the better scoring chances -- Ryan Hutten hit the crossbar in the opening half and Alvaro Castro fired wide on a breakaway after Novak's goal -- Lakes had its opportunities too.

The Eagles were denied by 6-foot-3 keeper Jim Palac, Zach Sesterhenn, Andrew Stone, Kyle Schory, Chase Guarnaccio, Hutten and Julia.

"It was a very tough game," Kullby said. "It was going back and forth. We had some good chances in the first half, but Libertyville is very aggressive to the ball and they disrupt the flow of the game. They made good on a corner kick that we didn't mark up very well on, but throughout the game we defended very well."