Abad, Lake Zurich handle Libertyville
Vanesa Abad is determined to score goals for Lake Zurich’s girls soccer team.
Good thing for the Bears that she has plenty of patience. Because while the sophomore hasn’t scored a lot of goals yet this spring, she’s contributed in many other ways, especially with corner kicks and well-placed crosses to her teammates.
Abad produced assists on 3 of the Bears’ 4 goals on Tuesday night as Lake Zurich topped host Libertyville 4-1 in a North Suburban Lake matchup.
“I really don’t like assists, I’d rather score,” said Vanessa Abad, who now has 8 assists. “I usually take the corner kicks and that’s where I usually get my assists. Half the time, I really don’t believe it’s going to work.
“I’m usually fast on the line and can get crosses off to my teammates.”
Lake Zurich remained unbeaten in the NSC Lake (4-3-1, 1-0-1), while Libertyville dropped to 4-3-1 and 0-1.
“We did play well, and we’re trying to focus on playing 80 minutes,” Lake Zurich coach Meghan Kolze said. “The girls played great. They stepped up, and did it with confidence. We did a great job finishing, great opportunities.
“We’ve done a good job focusing on transition goals.”
Catalina Abad made the score 1-0 in favor of the Bears in the 32nd minute when she alerty picked off a ball that wasn’t cleared by the Libertyville defense.
The Bears then scored off a dead ball in the 48th minute for a 2-0 advantage when Molly Murrin converted on a pass that came from Vanesa Abad.
The Bears added another one nine minutes later. This time Vanessa Abad sent a straight-line cross from the end line and Brooke Sill one-timed it into the goal.
Libertyville got a goal back as Kaca Savatic scored with an assist from Haley Pike to make it 3-1 in the 61st minute.
Allison Zurawski scored the Bears’ final goal a few minutes later off a corner kick from Vanesa Abad.
The Wildcats didn’t have the game that they’d hoped for in a battle against a key NSC Lake opponent.
“We just move on to our next game,” Libertyville coach Scott Schinto said. “I really want to forget about this one and move on. We just have to regroup.”