Stirring victory for Lake Zurich in sectional semifinals
Eric Pothast potted the first goal and that got things stirring for Lake Zurich's boys soccer team.
Pothast's head goal was all the Bears needed, as they went on to blank Rockford Boylan 3-0 in a Class 3A sectional semifinal at Barrington on Tuesday night.
Lake Zurich (18-4) will next take on upstart Larkin (9-15-3) at 6 p.m. Friday back at Barrington for the sectional championship.
Larkin surprised Crystal Lake South 2-1 in the first semifinal, ending the Gators' season at 19-4-2.
Pothast got the Bears on the board in the 11th minute. He banged in his 13th goal of the season off a cross from Brett Harper, beating Titans keeper Sean Cussen.
"Brett got out wide and I made eye contact with him," Pothast said. "He sent a beautiful ball to the back post. I just caught the goalie going the wrong way. I just headed the ball toward the near post."
Harper scored five minutes later after Nick Janus set him up. Harper dribbled around a defender and beat Cussen on a breakaway.
Kreutz added the final tally in the second half, speeding down the left sideline, before making a ridiculous move and beating Cussen for his 18th goal of the season.
"I lost some speed and decided to cut it back on (the defender)," Kreutz said. "I went back to my left foot, moved my head forward a bit and got the ball to my right foot. He couldn't stay with me and then I put (the shot) off the far post and in."
Lake Zurich had many chances to score more goals. A number of the shots barely missed the frame and a couple of others pinged off the post and crossbar.
"It was an intense game and we came out hard," Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said. "We knocked the ball around. We only got one goal in the second half, but (Boylan) did a nice job. It was nice to see our team get rewarded. We just wanted to stay within ourselves."
Lake Zurich keeper Tyler Raineri made 3 saves in earning his ninth shutout.