Scarnato, Lake Zurich turn away Zion-Benton
Taao Scarnato has made outstanding saves before.
Add one more.
The Lake Zurich senior goalkeeper corraled a Martin Ventura header that seemed destined for the lower left corner of the net, preserving a 1-0 advantage midway through the second half.
The Bears went on to shut out host Zion-Benton 3-0 in a North Suburban Lake Division match Saturday.
"I knew his body was facing left and I knew he wouldn't get to the right side," Scarnato said. "When he hit it, I got my right hand on it and secured it. Because it was so close and everyone was inside the 6, I didn't want to give up the rebound. I made sure it stayed in my hand."
Scarnato faced another challenge five minutes later when Zion-Benton was awarded a penalty kick. The Zee-Bees' Phillip Cortez fired a kick off the post, and the ball ricocheted to the left. Zion-Benton's Andy Sandine sent a low cross to the front of the net but Cortez's shot missed wide left.
The Bears' Nick Janus had no problem finishing. He scored a pair of goals and added an assist to lead Lake Zurich (13-1-3, 3-0-1). Tim Kreutz had a goal and an assist, and Andy Lynch also picked up an assist.
Lake Zurich, which was just anointed the top seed in the Barrington regional, continues to show why it deserves any accolades it receives. The Bears have gone 7-0-1 in their last eight games and have the inside track in the NSC Lake race with two games remaining. Lake Zurich travels to Lake Forest on Tuesday night and hosts Stevenson on Friday.
"It's a good win and Zion-Benton is a good team," said Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz. "I was happy with our guys staying focused for a good 80 minutes. (Finishing games) is something we've been working on."
The loss for Zion-Benton (10-1-5, 0-1-3) was its first of the season. The Zee-Bees are having their best season in school history.
"This was the best team we've faced all year," Zion-Benton coach Cliff Pontillo said. "Lake Zurich is a fabulous team. You need to play 80 minutes and not 70. You just can't have a letdown. We had a five-minute period there and the game was over. We have more depth on this year's team and the (players) have played together. There are some very talented players out here."
Kreutz picked up his 16th goal of the season after taking a pass from Janus in the fourth minute. Janus scored his goals in the 69th and 70th minutes.
"Our combination seems to be working all the time now," Kreutz said. "We just keep doing it and it works."
Carmel 0, Marian Catholic 0: Ryan Rudolf had 4 saves to preserve the tie for Marian Catholic (4-8-2, 1-3-2) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference match.
McHenry 1, Lakes 0: At McHenry, Taylor Halm made 6 saves for his third shutout of the season for McHenry (8-8-1).