Neal's PK all Lakes can muster against Deerfield

The horrible spring weather has caused havoc for the Lakes girls soccer team.

On Saturday, so did Deerfield.

Lakes lost 3-1 in a nonconference match in Lake Villa.

The teams had to play on a slippery and soggy field, which describes most fields in Lake County because of all the recent rain, after a harsh winter.

Lakes (0-5) fell to Marian Central 1-0 on Friday.

"It's early in the season and conditions for training have been very poor," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "It affects your team getting ready. In this particular season, it's going to take awhile to find where everybody can play.

"We've been in a gym -- in confined spaces, not even shooting at goals. Other teams seem to be ahead."

Deerfield (2-1-1) jumped out to a 2-0 advantage, scoring twice in a six-minute span midway through the first half. Rachel Jason and Rachel Blitz scored off some miscues by the Eagles.

"I was encouraged by some of our play, but it was rough around the edges, Kullby said. "We made mistakes, which (Deerfield) capitalized on.

"We built the ball up pretty well at times. It's going to take awhile to minimize our mistakes and put things together offensively. We're trying to play a ball-control style, but there's a liability with that when you have breakdowns on the field."

Lakes managed to cut its deficit in half in the 34th minute. The Eagles' Emily Mason was tripped in the box and Alex Neal scored on a penalty kick.

But the Warriors added an insurance goal in the 69th minute, as Tory Suffren scored off a pass from Meredith Krifka.

"I thought we tightened up defensively," Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. "I thought we took care of things in the second half. We've been trying to do certain things defensively that are different than what the girls are used to. We want them to get behind the ball and clog up the passing lanes.

"Lakes has a nice team and I knew they were going to play a possession style on a nice wide field."