Rowley, Mustangs tie up Lake Zurich, 1-1

Michelle Rowley is one dangerous weapon when it comes to scoring goals for the Mundelein girls soccer team.

Rowley, an all-area player the last couple of years and normally a defender, moves forward on corner kicks and set pieces. She scored the game-tying header on Monday afternoon which helped give the Mustangs a 1-1 tied with host Lake Zurich in a North Suburban Lake Division match.

"I've always been told I can jump high," said Rowley, who has scored 3 of her 4 goals on headers this season. "I'm just able to read it and time the runs. I've been doing it all four of my years. There's too many (goals) to count ... I just like using my head for scoring."

Rowley scored in the 59th minute on a corner kick from Nathalie Mathis.

"Anything in the goal works," Rowley said. "I thought the play worked well. Nathalie (Mathis) sent a great ball to me and it just clicked for us."

Mundelein nearly got the winning goal in the 77th minute, but the goal was waived off for offsides.

Still, a tie really wasn't what Mundelein (8-7-2, 2-1-1) wanted in the race for the NSC Lake title. The Mustangs face Stevenson at the Patriots' football field at 6:15 p.m. today.

"We're disappointed," Mundelein coach Dave Ekstrom said. "We didn't want the tie. We wanted to win the game. I'm happy, we fought back and had the better of the play in the second half."

Lake Zurich (7-7-4, 1-1-2) got its goal from Hailey Chmela scoring on a chip shot in the second minute.

However, the Bears couldn't finish off its chances for another goal the rest of the way.

"We're a little disappointed for the tie," Lake Zurich coach Meghan Kolze said. "Mundelein is a good team. We needed to finish our opportunities in the first half. We had a chance to solidify a win for us. It's a learning experience.

"I guess a tie is a tie. It would've been nice to get the win."