Wrap: Libertyville's pressure prevails

Libertyville dominated both sides of the field, shutting out visiting Grayslake Central 2-0 to capture the Class AA girls soccer regional championship on Friday night.

Libertyville will host either Warren or Carmel in the sectional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

"We kept (Grayslake Central) under pressure and didn't give them much room," Libertyville coach Scott Schinto said. "We had some good chances and they had a couple of balls that got behind us."

The third-seeded Wildcats outshot No. 5 Grayslake Central 8-2 in the first half and then 9-4 in the second half.

Meanwhile, both teams received outstanding goal-keeping.

Libertyville junior Erin Waehner had 6 saves and recorded her 10th shutout of the season while Rams freshman Kat Dickson recorded 15 saves.

"Kat did a phenomenal job today," Grayslake Central coach Mike McCaulou said. "The four in front of her, Rachel Culp, Megan Metzler, Stephanie Swearingen and Molly DiGregorio all did a lot for Kat."

This was the second year in a row that Grayslake Central (11-9) made it to the regional finals.

Last season, the Rams lost to Carmel in the final.

After a scoreless first half, two Libertyville underclassmen who had been injured in the beginning of the season scored the two goals.

Freshman Haley Pike dribbled the ball into the goal from 10 yards out with 16:17 left for the first score.

"I saw the goal was pretty open and I tried it," Pike said. "It's just great because we haven't been able to (win a championship) in past years. It's also great because we've been working so hard and we've been able to succeed and we just want to go as far as we can."

Junior Felicia Gonzalez scored the second goal from the far sideline on a pass from Pike with 1:13 left.

"All we've been doing is trying to take it down the line and we follow through on our runs," Gonzalez said. "This is huge. We've wanted this from the heart and we've been so passionate about it from the beginning of the season."

Schinto tipped his hat to both players.

"Haley is a great young player. She's been banged up a little bit and is coming back from injury and is a future star for us," Schinto said. "Gonzo is also a great player She's been hurt and was back in the eighth game of the year."

Despite the loss, McCaulou was happy with the way his team played.

"I was very pleased with the girls' effort" McCaulou said. "They worked their tails off and you can't ask anything more out of this team. It's back-to-back winning seasons and that's the first time we've done that in the six years that I've been here."

Hersey 1, Lake Zurich 0: Kathryn Korff believed any of her Hersey teammates could have used their heads the way she did Friday.

But the 5-foot-10 Korff's header off a Kristen Gierman corner kick 1:16 before halftime was all third-seeded Hersey needed for another historic victory in the Class AA Lake Zurich girls soccer regional championship.

Hersey (17-2-4) notched its 15th shutout and first regional title with a 1-0 win that ended the coaching career of Lake Zurich's Pete Ternes.

"It's just so great," Korff said of adding to Hersey's school record for wins that includes its first Mid-Suburban League title. "It's such an amazing feeling."

Hersey advanced to Tuesday's 7 p.m. Palatine sectional semifinal against the seventh-seeded hosts, who beat No. 2 Lake Forest for the Vernon Hills regional title.

But it wasn't easy for the Huskies as they knocked off a 10th-seeded Lake Zurich (5-8-9) program looking for its seventh straight regional title.

"From now on it's a battle of survival," said Hersey coach Brad Abel. "We finally got a good seed and we play one of the storied programs (in the area). We knew they were a lot better than a 10th seed. At other sectionals they'd be a two or three seed."

Lake Zurich players continually shouted "no corners" because of Hersey's proficiency on the set piece.

But a yellow card late in the first half and Gierman's free kick from 65 yards set up Hersey's second corner kick chance. Gierman sent a corner into the wind and Korff connected off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net.

"Gierman had an amazing corner kick and it happened to come to me," Korff said. "I made a run there and everyone made a run. It would have happened to anyone but I just happened to be there."

Lake Zurich's best chance came eight minutes into the second half. Senior Kate Tarquino's 26-yard blast off a free kick smacked off the crossbar and the rebound chance sailed high.

"I thought we played our hearts out today and we improved so much during the season," said Tarquino, one of three senior starters. "I thought we played a good game and fought a good fight."

But Hersey's defense of Rosie White, Gierman, Korff, Andrea Perkins, Amanda Slove and keeper Julia Fredian made 1 goal enough.

"Our back line is so strong together," Korff said.

Ternes resigned after nine years in charge of the Bears' girls program to spend more time with his family and two young children.

"It hit me when I was standing there talking to the girls," said Ternes, who led the Bears to second place in the state in 2003 and thirds in 2002 and 2004. "I started to get choked up and it was sinking in a little bit. This program has a lot of pride and a lot of tradition."

-- Marty Maciaszek

Palatine 1, Lake Forest 0: As Palatine senior midfielder Abby Brunks approached the ball less than eight minutes into her team's Class AA regional final against No 2 seed Lake Forest, she was merely trying to do what she had been taught all season long.

With fellow senior midfielder Sarah Iuorio streaking toward the far post, Brunks laid up a beautiful crossing pass, watched it spin gracefully through the wind, and could do nothing but smile as Iuorio placed a perfect header past Scout goalie Amy Burton to give Palatine the lead.

"Absolutely beautiful," Iuorio said of Brunks' pass.

Beautiful indeed for the Pirates, as the early goal proved to be enough cushion for a 1-0 victory Friday at the Vernon Hills regional, pushing a now surging seventh-seeded Palatine team into its 7 p.m. sectional semifinal Tuesday at home against Mid-Suburban League champion and No. 3 Hersey.

After losing 1-0 to the Scouts earlier in the season, Palatine knew some early offense would be just what they needed.

"We've had trouble in the past with the first 10 minutes (of the game), so to start off with a goal was really big for us," Brunks said.

"We've been playing pretty well all season long when we have (a lead) to protect," Palatine coach Willie Filian said of his defensive effort. "Getting the goal early on had a huge effect, because at least now you are defending something as opposed to playing in a 0-0 game."

Coming off a 3-1 victory over MSL rival Buffalo Grove on Wednesday in the regional semis, the Pirates stuck with the same controlled tempo that got them into Friday's final.

By playing tenacious defense and constantly being around the ball, Palatine was able to hold Lake Forest to only 6 shot attempts.

"We knew our match was going to be tough today, but we were ready "Brunks added.

While the Pirates' defense did not give their senior goalkeeper Nicky Clark much to worry about Friday, during the few chance opportunities the Scouts had to tie the match, Clark was right there to make the big stop.

As Palatine now looks ahead to its sectional match up on Tuesday, it's all about riding the momentum, according to Filian.

"Our goal was to get back to our home field (for the sectional)," Filian said. "We'll try it again on Tuesday and see what happens."

If Friday was any indication, the Pirates will certainly be ready.

-- Dan Hyman

Stevenson 1, Cary-Grove 0:ŒStevenson and Cary-Grove couldn't find the back of the net during regulation, so it took overtime to get a decision.

The Patriots (11-6-1) wound up out-scoring Cary-Grove on penalty kicks, 3-0.

Taylor Cunningham, Colleen Grady and Courtney Levy each scored.

As goalie, Levy had 16 saves on the game.

Baseball

Grant 9, Richmond 0: Up until the fourth inning, Grant had a slim 1-0 lead.

Then Ryan Thorsen crushed a grand slam home run to break the game open.

Thorsen then narrowly missed a 3-run homer in the fifth when his batted ball struck the top of the fence and popped back into play for a 2-run double.

Thorsen was 4-for-4 on the day with the homer, 2 doubles and 6 RBI.

Nate Lucas also added a double for the Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, Kyle Stroup controlled the game on the mound for Grant, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 10 batters.

Antioch 6, Harvard 3: The Sequoits scored 5 runs in the fifth inning to extend their 1-0 lead.

Ken Karagiorgas had 2 hits for Antioch, which moves to 15-12 on the season.

Pitcher Andy Kloster went the distance to get the win. He struck out six batters.

Grayslake North 7, Johnsburg 6: The Knights rolled up 6 runs in the fourth inning and 11 hits on the game to squeak out the victory.

Nick Harrington and Tim Elias each had 2 hits for Grayslake North, which moves to 10-16 overall.

Pitcher Nate Sousa rolled up 5 strikeouts to improve to 4-1 on the season. Jordan Field got the save.

Prairie Ridge 7, Grayslake Central 6: Prairie Ridge remained undefeated in Fox Valley Conference play but got a scare from the Rams.

Grayslake Central was down 7-2 heading into the seventh inning but scored 4 runs to rally just short of a tie game.

"I'm very proud of the way the guys battled back, but at the same time, our play was far too consistent throughout the game to beat a team as good as Prairie Ride," Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen said. "Four errors and throwing some (at-bats) away hurt us today. We needed to be close to perfect to beat them."

The Rams got 3 hits, including 2 doubles, from Matt Schmidt and doubles from Jordaan Williams and Kevin DeRue. Mike Gentile and Kevin O'Rourke both had run-producing hits in the seventh inning rally.

Softball

Huntley 9, Grayslake Central 3: Four errors didn't help the Rams.

Neither did a 5-run sixth inning for Huntley.

Tory Dohm and Mary Karol each had 2 hits and a double.

Pitcher Monika Wedick went seven innings for the Rams. She tallied 8 strikeouts.