Lakes scores early, often

A quick start proved beneficial for Lakes' boys soccer team.

The Eagles scored a couple of early goals Wednesday and soared to a 7-0 victory over Hampshire in Class 2A sectional-semifinal action on Grayslake Central's artificial surface.

Lakes (16-7-1) will next play Marian Central (16-4-4) in the sectional final at 11 a.m. Saturday at Grayslake Central The Hurricanes beat Antioch 2-1 in the other semifinal Wednesday night.

Tom O'Brien scored a hat trick for the Eagles. Steven Korosis had a goal and a couple of assists, and Mark Polanin added a goal and an assist. Ryan Rudynski and Matt Beadle also scored, while Dan Walsh picked up 2 assists.

"I didn't expect to score so quickly and so often," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "Our style of play is well-suited for the turf. We certainly knocked it real well and we had some great goals to show for it.

"You couldn't ask for a better game for us. We got acclimated to the turf and played it real well. Our home field is cut very low and plays real fast."

O'Brien put the Eagles on the board in the third minute. Korosis sent a corner kick to the middle, where the ball bounced off the back of Walsh. O'Brien collected the ball and finished for his 18th goal.

"When I scored the first goal," O'Brien said, "(Hampshire's) confidence went down and the momentum was on our side from there."

Polanin scored two minutes later, after taking a pass from Korosis.

Korosis made it 3-0 at the 18-minute mark, when he worked through five Hampshire defenders and deposited his 14th goal.

"I just kept fighting for it," Korosis said. "I was pretty sure I was going to lose it. I was surprised to score that one."

Beadle tallied in the 25th minute for a 4-0 cushion at intermission.

Lakes keeper Ben Goforth made 4 saves in keeping Hampshire (9-10-1) off the board.

"We just didn't play here today," Hampshire coach John Gosling said. "We had one day of preparation for the turf in our field house, trying to simulate as much as we could. It was similar - hard surface and the ball rolls. Things were just amplified with bad touches and bad passes."