Downers Grove tops Carmel

The Carmel and Downers Grove South girls soccer teams certainly had to brave some severe elements Friday.

First lightning delayed warmups, then the match started 55 minutes late because of the weather.

Once under way, the teams battled through high winds and driven rain for almost the entire match.

But when the rain stopped in overtime, the sun came out and shone on the Mustangs -- and especially Keri Kujawa.

She scored the only goal to give the Mustangs a 1-0 victory over the Corsairs in Class AA quarterfinal action at North Central College in Naperville.

The Mustangs (21-6) advanced to the semifinals today against Belleville Althoff (24-3-1) at 9 a.m. Althoff beat Homewood-Floosmoor 3-1.

"We get to play and get to go after a trophy for the school and the kids," said Mustangs coach Barry Jacobson. "We beat a very, very good team and shut them out."

Kujawa found the back of the net in the 89th minute -- her 11th goal of the season -- as the ball was bouncing around in the box off a Megan Martin corner kick.

"It looked like the ball came to Megan Owens," Kujawa said. "She had a defender and passed it back to me. Then, I just kicked it in. I thought I had a great chance and it was a great feeling.

"We knew (Carmel) would be great competition and a great game. It turned out to be a win for us."

The Corsairs (22-2) had their chances.

In the fifth minute, Sara Petermann made a move and kicked a low shot past the far post, but Mustangs goalkeeper Kelly Kubal (6 saves) stepped forward to cut off an angle.

"Their keeper was making some good saves," Peternann said. "The shots were not going in today. We were trying to go over the top. I was trying to run on (the ball), but we didn't finish our chances."

The Corsairs had other chances, but they were unable to convert.

"We played great defense the entire game and shut them down," Kubal said. "Whatever they did I was there for it. We played a tough schedule whether we'd win or lose. We've always been right there."

"After the first 10 minutes, the game went the way we wanted too and Jessica Jamie settled in and did a great job on Petermann," Jacobson said. "It was up and down the field, and we knew it was going to be like a hockey game."

"It was tough for our forwards to get the ball on their feet," said Corsairs coach John Halloran. "The ball was bouncing 4 yards off the turf every time and flying out of bounds. It was tough to play a possession game.

"It really turned into a kickball match. (DGS) got their chance at the end and took advantage of it. That's soccer. I thought we had more quality chances than they did."

Members of the Corsairs enjoyed a great run in high school, including four regional titles, three East Suburban Catholic Conference championships, two sectional titles, a supersectional crown and a trip to state.

"They've got nothing to be ashamed of," Halloran said. "They played their guts out to get here. It was certainly not the ending we wanted. We probably could've done better."