Bears battle to scoreless draw against Hersey

This is spring?

Playing soccer in a driving snowstorm?

At Lake Zurich on Thursday, players wore hats and gloves and sported long sleeves under their jerseys to try to stay warm in the winter conditions.

The match between Hersey and the host Bears went on, however, and after 80 minutes, neither team had scored. No overtime was played, so the match, which was part of the St. Viator tournament, ended in a scoreless draw.

"It's fantastic weather," Lake Zurich assistant coach Mike Schmitz said with a grin. "Just what you want to play in on spring break."

Schmitz, who filled in for head coach Pete Ternes, who had a family obligation, was satisfied with the Bears' effort.

"It was tough to get organized," Schmitz said. "Hersey had the wind and snow at their back in the first half and we did better with the wind and snow at our backs in the second half.

"We were able to knock the ball around better in the second half. We did have some chances to score on corners. It's not the result we really wanted but we'll take it with this weather."

The Bears (0-1-1, 0-0-1 in the tournament) had their best scoring chance when freshman Gina McCoy delivered a corner kick inside the 6-yard line in the 71st minute. The Bears had three chances to finish, the last when freshman Jenna Therrian touched a shot just wide of the back post.

At first it went through the goalie's hands and I was behind the goalie," Therrian said of Hersey keeper Julia Fredian. "It deflected off me and came to my feet. Then there was a bunch of people on the ball. It is so wet out here and everything is so slippery."

Hersey sophomore sweeper Kathryn Korff had her hands full with Bears' forwards, as well as the weather.

"It's really hard to play in this because all your body parts are frozen and you have to work through it," Korff said. "It was a rough situation with the snow in your eyes. You just want to clear the ball out of the there."

Hersey (1-1) had its best opportunity to score in the 21st minute, when senior Jackie Drees had a breakaway. Bears keeper Maggie Eisenhuth came up with 1 of her 3 saves.

"We're just happy to play," Hersey coach Brad Abel said. "We don't care if it's sunny out or snowing out. Obviously, the conditions aren't the greatest. But that's the way it is for both teams.

"The second half we had a hard time controlling the pace of the game. (Lake Zurich) took it to us. We're OK coming out with a 0-0 draw."

Lake Zurich is scheduled to host Benet Academy at 4:30 p.m. today.

Mundelein 2, Lake Park 0: Abbey Ekstrom scored in the first half, and teammate Ashley Begrowicz notched a goal after intermission to lead Mundelein to a 2-0 tournament victory over Lake Park.

Nikki Allen made a pair of saves in goal for the Mustangs (3-0, 2-0 in the tournament).

Courtney Bestler and Shayne Carroll recorded assists for the Mustangs, who are scheduled to meet Buffalo Grove today at noon as the tournament continues at Lake Park.

Grayslake Central wins: Grayslake Central outscored Hampshire 4-2 in penalty kicks to defeat the Red Raiders in tournament action.

The game ended in a 2-2 tie after regulation.

Megan Lebaron had a goal and an assist and Melissa Kuehl had a goal for the Rams (3-1), who meet Conant today at noon for the tournament championship.

St. Viator 8, South Elgin 0: Junior Lauren Cozzi had 4 goals and an assist as St. Viator (2-0) rolled in its tourney match played at Niles North.

Sophomore Sam Gavin had a goal and 3 assists, Taylor Skala and Susan Szymczak each had a goal and 2 assists and Jackie Tumberger scored the other goal. Brenna Fitzpatrick had 4 assists and Colleen Henegan had two.

Mary-Kate Supplitt (2 saves) and Stephanie Shanahan (1 save) split their second straight shutout in goal.

Baseball

Junior Ian McDermott made an unforgettable first varsity start for Mundelein on Thursday.

McDermott threw a 5-inning no-hitter as Mundelein (5-0) beat Fenton 10-0 at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. McDermott had 5 strikeouts and 2 walks.

Mundelein had only 5 hits but Dillon Smith continued his hot start by driving in 2 runs. Smith has 12 RBI in his last 4 games.

Jay Mueller also drove in 2 runs and Colton Tortorello had an RBI for Mundelein.