Vernon Hills falls in NSC championship

Vernon Hills' girls soccer team scored the only North Suburban Conference championship from the Prairie Division this decade.

The Cougars had a shot at doing it again on Thursday night. But host Lake Forest connected on 2 shots in a three-minute span of the second half and won the NSC championship match for the second straight year.

Nicole Lipp scored both goals and Rachel Quon also picked up an assist for the NSC Lake champion Scouts (16-2-1).

"Lake Forest was a very good team, but we left everything on the field," said Vernon Hills coach Vince DeLuca, whose team is now 10-6-2 overall. "Lake Forest was more skilled than us and it was evident on the field. We didn't give up and played hard to the end."

Cougars' freshman keeper Iris Ostrovsky was effortless in making 5 of her 8 saves in a scoreless first 40 minutes.

"It wasn't just me, it was my defense who worked their butts off," said Ostrovsky, who noted the play of defenders Kathryn Redig, Lexi Hernandez and Brigid Walsh. "Most of the shots I got were blocked by our defenders.

"Shots were hard and high. I had to jump a lot. They were lightning-quick and those were the ones I could handle. We worked hard in practices to get ready for it. Lake Forest was one of the harder teams we've seen."

Lake Forest broke through in the 42nd minute. Lipp sent a through ball toward the goal and it bounced off a Vernon Hills defender for the first goal.

The Scouts added their second goal three minutes later. Megan Bourne found Lipp making a run across the middle for her 14th goal of the season.

At the 57-minute mark, Scouts' keeper Taylor Edwards was called for an intentional handball out of the area on a Rachel Roose shot. Edwards was given a red card and the Scouts had to play with 10 players.

Backup keeper Finley Amato was injured in warmups. So the Scouts placed Gatorade player of the year and midfielder Rachel Quon in goal.

Quon made 1 save the rest of the way and kept the Cougars off the board.

"I just volunteered and no one else wanted to," said Quon, who last played in goal on one occasion at the U-14 club level. "I just wanted to communicate and make sure the ball doesn't come back to me. I knew the defense could hold things up."

Lake Forest had some concern with what was going on toward the end of the game, but managed controlling a two-goal advantage.

"I knew Vernon Hills couldn't keep us out of net all game," said Lake Forest coach Ty Stuckslager. "But you've got to give Vernon Hills credit with how they played.

"Two goals is the worst lead in soccer. Our girls as a team rallied and did a great job."