Trillhaase, Carmel edge Warren in a thriller

Carmel Catholic's girls soccer team has several prolific scorer, but the Corsairs' crucial goal came from an unlikely source on Saturday.

Senior Kiersten Trillhaase knocked in her first goal, and it was a game-winner as the second-seeded Corsairs got by the No. 7 Blue Devils 3-2 in the Class AA Warren regional in Gurnee.

Carmel (19-1) next faces No. 3 Libertyville in the Mundelein sectional semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The game will be played at Libertyville High School.

Trillhaase's goal occurred in the 69th minute. It was a header after a Nikki Boland free kick.

"It was a perfect service from Nikki Boland and I couldn't ask for anything better," Trillhaasse said. "I was thinking this is my last season and it could be over if I don't score this goal. I wanted to do it for my team so we could move on."

Trillhaase has made plenty of big defensive plays for Carmel, but she felt fortunate to connect for a goal against Warren.

"Basically, I was lucky," Trillhaase said. "I was standing at the top and nobody was marking me. I figured it would be perfect to sneak in the back of the defense and get it."

The Corsairs got on the board in the third minute when Sara Petermann scored her 32nd goal of the season after taking a through ball from Stephanie Swanson. Petermann beat a defender into the box and kicked it past Warren keeper Sarah Musick.

Warren (6-12-4) tied the game in the 21st minute when Meghan Kilroy poked the ball inside the far post.

Kelsey Armour put the Blue Devils ahead 2-1 in the 36th minute with a free kick.

"When I scored the goal, I was thinking if we can keep it up we can score more," said Armour, a sophomore who has 12 goals. "We had chances and we thought we could win the game."

Carmel evened the game at 2-2 three minutes later when Kassidy Brown took a pass from Maddie Ogrinc and scored.

The Corsairs were not used to trailing, and Carmel coach John Halloran was not pleased about it.

"I was a little upset we didn't execute our game plan in the first half," Halloran said. "I told the girls it's 0-0 and we've got 40 minutes to prove that we're the better team."

In their only previous meeting of the season, Carmel outscored Warren 4-3.

"I give the Warren girls a tremendous amount of credit, and they played with a lot of heart," Halloran said. "These were two of the toughest games of the year. We've beat a number of teams by a lot of goals this year.

"We saw what they did in the other regional game, and in the game before against us. (Warren) gave us a tough game."

Warren coach Jeff Knouse was pleased with the effort in both meetings with Carmel.

"We played tough each time and gave a battle each time," Knouse said. "I think the experience won out. Carmel took advantage of their opportunities. You can see we were frustrated because they're a solid team.

"When we got the lead, we needed to stay composed and we did a pretty good job throughout the game."