Boys soccer: Maine South blanks Glenbrook North

Maine South's boys soccer team ended its winless streak in the Central Suburban South Thursday night at Wilson Field in Park Ridge with a well-deserved 3-0 victory over visiting Glenbrook North.

Fresh off a disappointing 1-0 loss to New Trier, the Hawks (6-5-1, 1-3-0) overcame a sluggish first quarter hour to bag 2 goals in the first half, before dashing the hopes of the Spartans (5-7-1, 0-4-0) with another just before the hour to ensure their first victory in the division.

"We came out a little slow. In fact we had trouble getting out of our own end, conceded a couple of free kicks and deep throws, but that first goal seemed to be all we needed to get us going in the right direction," said Hawks senior Giuliano Corazzina, who had a hand in all 3 goals.

The Spartans enjoyed nearly all of the play with their strong start, inspired by Tommy Henrickson, Yusuf Shaaban, Trotter Benson and Gabe Nayman, but despite this the visitors were unable to test Hawks keeper Luke Lorenc with anything too dangerous.

Weston Bukar would put the home side back on its front foot when he, Corazzina and Luciano Cale took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Spartans in the 16th minute.

"Luciano yelled to me to let the ball go through so I 'dummied' the ball and Weston put it in near the post," said Corazzina.

The Hawks' talented forward doubled the advantage at 36 minutes when he ran onto an inch-perfect serve from Iricanin's free kick effort.

"Stefan is just a sophomore, but he's been getting better and better each time out and tonight you saw some of that improvement with an all-around solid game from him," said Hawks coach Dan States.

The Maine South back line did well to keep the Spartans' chances to a minimum after the break, allowing one quality opportunity which second half keeper Drew Burgis turned away with a wonderful reaction save at 67 minutes when Nico Adduci ran onto a long ball out of the back.

"Sometimes when it's a 3-0 result you tend to overlook the defense, but our guys in the back - Milosz Dykiel, Carlo Kwon, Charlie Ryan and Matt Skorupa - did real well together as a unit," said States.

Cale was played into the area from both Corazzina and Sam McGinnis, and the senior would do the rest with a sharp and aggressive turn toward the goal, finishing from 24 yards with an unstoppable right-footed blast.

The Hawks host Naperville Central Saturday afternoon in their annual BBQ Game, while the Spartans travel to Lake Forest on that same day.