Everything coming up victories for Carmel
Over the last four years, Carmel Catholic has steadily climbed the ladder of girls soccer success -- from sectional semifinals to the finals, then to the supersectional last year.
Now the Corsairs are making their debut appearance in the Class AA Elite Eight.
The Corsairs (22-1) meet Downers Grove South (20-6) today at 11 a.m. at North Central College in Naperville.
This season has been a special one in more ways than one for coach John Halloran, since seeing his first baby born two days before tryouts at the end of February to a big win over Hersey on Monday night that vaulted the Corsairs to a state berth.
"He (Jack) had to be born before we had tryouts and he's a good boy," Halloran said. "It's helped me gain some perspective and it's healthy. This year was finally everything going in the right place. Other years the stars were aligned but something didn't go right. This time everything happened the right way. It's been an amazing three months. I've had some moments here and there to take a breath."
En route to the best season in school history, the Corsairs are riding an 18-game winning streak.
The Corsairs captured the East Suburban Catholic Conference championship, going unbeaten through their league schedule. They won the Warren regional, Libertyville sectional and beat Hersey 3-1 in the Buffalo Grove supersectional as Sara Petermann scored all 3 goals.
The Corsairs have scored 97 goals in 23 games, an average of more than 4 per match.
Petermann, the Daily Herald Lake County All-Area captain, has 37 goals and 20 assists, followed by Kassidy Brown (17 goals, 18 assists), Maddie Ogrinc (13 goals, 12 assists) and Stephanie Swanson (12 goals, 6 assists).
"If we play to our ability, we can beat anybody," said Halloran, whose record in five years as Corsairs coach is 93-21-8. "I feel we can take it to Saturday and get trophy."
Downers Grove South is nicknamed the Mustangs. Ironically, the Mundelein Mustangs are the only team to beat Carmel, 1-0 on April 3rd on an inclement weather day in the mud.
"They are pretty good in the box and have a couple of scorers," Halloran said. 'They haven't lost in a while just like us. I know we don't have to adjust that much to them. In the playoffs, everyone has been adjusting to us."
The Mustangs, who have won nine straight, took the West Suburban Gold title for the sixth straight year and eighth of the last nine. They won their own regional, the Lyons Township sectional and beat University High 4-1 in the Lemont supersectional.
The Mustangs have been to state several times, their best run in 2002 when they took fourth place.
Leading goal scorers are Danielle Janowiak (23 goals, 9 assists), Keri Kujawa (10 goals) and Megan Owens (9 goals, 5 assists).
"We'd love to see them lose to two of them," said Mustangs coach Barry Jacobson of Carmel. "We know Carmel is a very good team. They're a very good offensive team and don't give up too many goals. At this point there's not too many weak teams left."
"We're just going to do what we've been doing," said Jacobson, who owns most wins among girls soccer coaches in the state, boasting a 419-123-49 over 25 years. "We've had a good schedule and a good year. If we're not good enough, then we're not. We're just going to play our game."
Other quarterfinals
Homewood-Floosmoor (24-3) vs. Belleville Althoff (23-3-1), 1 p.m.
It's the first-ever trip to state for Homewood-Floosmoor, while Belleville Althoff make its first Class AA appearance. Althoff took third place in Class A in 2005. Althoff beat Chatham Glenwood 2-0 in the Granite City supersectional Tuesday. The Crusaders have 121 goals in 27 games. Homewood-Floosmoor netted a 2-1 victory over host Lemont on Monday.
Maine South (20-2-4) vs. Waubonsie Valley (23-0-1), 4 p.m.
Waubonsie Valley won the state championship last year and is the favorite to repeat. The Warriors, riding a 55-game unbeaten streak, escaped 1-0 over St. Charles North on Monday in the Lisle supersectional. Maine South returns after losing in the Elite Eight last year. The Hawks beat Rockton Hononegah 2-1 at the Lisle supersectional Monday.
St. Ignatius (26-1-1) vs. Normal Community West (26-0), 6 p.m.
Normal Community West blanked Peoria Notre Dame 2-0 in the Morton supersectional. Normal Community West has 113 goals and allowed only 7. St. Ignatius, which has netted 121 goals and allowed 8, rolled past Glenbrook South 3-1 in the New Trier supersectional.
• Semifinals are Saturday at 9 and 11 a.m. The third-place game is at 5 p.m., and the championship is at 7 p.m.
Rusty Silber's pick: Waubonsie Valley 3, Carmel 2