Blue Devils rally for a 2-2, nonconference tie with Niles North

Scoring hasn't come easy for Warren's girls soccer team this season.

But Kelsey Armour sure made it look easy Saturday morning -- against a team that's downright stingy defensively, no less.

The sophomore scored twice in a minute during the second half to help the Blue Devils rally for a 2-2, nonconference tie with Niles North in a rainy Gurnee.

"I thought we played better but we're just having trouble scoring," said Warren coach Jeff Knouse, whose team is 4-7-4. "We're definitely very young with three juniors and the rest freshmen and sophomores.

"We seem to be in good positions, but we're just not finishing. I did like the fact that we kept pounding away (at Niles North) and the kids didn't give up. The effort is there."

Niles North (11-5-4) jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first half on a pair of goals by Nicole Valente. The first was on a free kick and the other was on a breakaway sprung by a Colleen Kaferly pass.

Armour scored Warren's first goal in the 70th minute after taking a pass from Kerry Eddy.

A minute later, a handball was called in the penalty area. Armour scored on a penalty kick.

"We have to keep calm so we can keep things under control," Armour said. "At the end we were calming down and getting some good passes. At the beginning of the year, we weren't used to each other. We had a couple of new girls. Now we're starting to understand each other. We know where to move when passing the ball around."

Niles North hadn't given up a goal in its last nine games.

"We've been playing well, but unfortunately, we had a couple of mistakes in the back today," Niles North coach Dan Edminster said. "It was raining and the ball was slippery. Warren applied some great pressure and we gave them the opportunities. It was two good teams going at it."