Senior moment: Lakes earns NSC title shot

It was a night made for seniors — specifically, the bunch of them being honored on senior night for the Lakes boys soccer team.

The Eagles didn’t want to disappoint on such an important evening, which included clinching at least a tie in North Suburban Conference’s Prairie Division. That means the Eagles will host the North Suburban Conference championship game next Thursday.

Lakes took care of business with 3 second-half goals and shut out Grant 3-0 on Tuesday night in Lake Villa.

Seniors Jonathan Stanley tied a school record with his goal, and Allen Johnson scored the other two.

“It was nice to clinch it,” said Lakes coach Kevin Kullby, whose team improved to 10-7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Prairie. “It took us a while to break the ice. All three goals were earned and deserved.

“From the get-go, we created a lot of good chances. We were just not putting good shots on the frame. Grant did play tough and didn’t make it easy on us.”

Stanley collected his 16th goal of the season in the 58th minute. It was his 39th career goal, which ties him with former Eagles standout Steven Korosis.

Stanley collected a ball off a Grant defender and sent it right back for the goal.

“It is pretty cool, and I know that all the hard work pays off,” Stanley said. “I’ve got to give credit to my teammates — they are the ones who give me the ball and the opportunities.”

Johnson scored his fourth and fifth goals this season. The first one came less than a minute after Stanley’s. Johnson converted after taking a pass from Trevor Ray.

Johnson converted a penalty kick in the 76th minute for the Eagles’ final goal.

Grant (10-9, 4-2) had a chance to stay in the divisional race but needed to pull off a victory over Lakes.

“It was disappointing and I thought it was an even matchup,” Grant coach Shane Rivette said. “Lakes was able to finish and we weren’t.

“I did think (Lakes) controlled the ball a bit better than we did. In the first half, we controlled the ball. But when (Lakes) scored the goal, they took the momentum and possession away from us. Two back-to-back goals is hard to come back from.”

Lakes keeper Roberto Tre Re made 6 stops to earn the shutout.