Carmel keeps learning, nets victory over VH

Carrmel Catholic's boys soccer team has learned a lot with each game in the opening week of the season.

The Corsairs won two out of three matches, including a 2-0 victory over Vernon Hills on Saturday morning to earn the consolation championship of the North Shore Shootout at Lake Forest.

Deerfield (4-0) earned a 2-0 victory over the host Scouts (2-1) , which gave the Warriors the title for the first time.

The Corsairs (3-1) needed a pair of goals in the second half as they got past the Cougars (1-2).

"It's nice to get it after losing Tuesday (to Waukegan) and get two wins, said Carmel Catholic coach John Halloran, whose team beat Dundee Crown 3-2 Friday evening. "Our guys have played together last year. We shouldn't have this learning curve. We need to play more fluidly, and it's something to figure out."

Carmel's first goal came on Jon Monroe's penalty kick in the 64th minute. Jimmy Ryan set it up by getting tripped up in the penalty area.

"I'm not sure who played the ball to me," Ryan said. "The guy (defender) was trying to get me to go right, and then I cut back to the left. I just got sandwiched going over by another defender. It was a hard way to get a PK."

The Corsairs added an insurance goal in the 77th minute as T.J. Poll scored after taking a bouncing pass from Jake Changelon.

Vernon Hills keeper Andy Clark made 12 saves in a solid effort.

"There were a lot of shots outside of the 18 and crosses I couldn't get to," Clark said. "Luckily my defense was there to clean it up. Carmel was a well-coached team, and they've got some good players up top."

Vernon Hills had one of their best halves of soccer and kept it going into the second half until Carmel got on the board.

"We had a good effort outside of the outcome," Vernon Hills coach Shannon Etnyre said. "We had a lot of good things to take away and other things to work on for the rest of the season. Clark did a great job keeping us in the game."

In other tournament games, Highland Park edged Waukegan 2-1 for third place and Dundee-Crown beat St. Patrick 4-3 for fifth place.