Neubauer nets winner as Mustangs edge Cats

Libertyville's boys soccer team gave Mundelein few scoring chances in the second half Saturday morning.

The one time the Wildcats did, the visitors capitalized.

Nick Neubauer's rebound goal late lifted Mundelein to a 2-1 win in a North Suburban Conference Lake Division match between the two rivals.

"We didn't do a good job marking up at the end," Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. "We went brain-dead a few plays and they scored the goal at the end.

"We dominated the whole second half," Bitta continued. "We just couldn't finish and I don't know why. Soccer is a tough game because you can dominate on the field but still lose if you don't put the ball through the posts."

The game-winner came when the Mustangs' Nester Montiel fired a shot from 20 yards out that deflected off Libertyville keeper Chris Crow. Neubauer positioned himself in front of the goal, pounced on the rebound and fired the ball into the net with 6:14 left.

"I had a wide-open shot and let it go, and Nick put in the rebound," Montiel said. "We just played hard and tried to do our best all game."

Mundelein coach Dave Ekstrom tipped his hat to his defenders along with sophomore goalkeeper Javier Ramirez, who grabbed 12 saves.

"Javier has been playing great all year," Ekstrom said. "He's been coming up with some big saves and has been real solid for us, and he played a great game today.

Fellow sophomores Gabriel Marcos, Daniel Marcos and Robbie Munnings played well in the back to aid Ramirez.

Crow made 11 saves for Libertyville.

Mundelein (7-6-2, 3-2) scored first, as junior forward Bryant Portillo finished with an assist from Montiel in the 35th minute. Two minutes later, Libertyville tied the game as senior Andrew Stone kicked a shot 25 yards off that deflected off a defender and rolled into the goal.

The Wildcats had several chances to tie the game at the end but Ramirez came up with several key stops.