Girls soccer: Libertyville reaches sectional final in dominating fashion; Fremd edges Hersey in nightcap

It will be Fremd and Libertyville in the sectional final in Palatine Friday evening at Hildebrandt Field after both clubs were victorious Tuesday in their Class 3A Fremd sectional semifinals.

Libertyville advanced after a dominating performance from start to finish over Glenbrook South, thrashing the Titans (10-7-5) with six second half goals en route to a 9-1 victory in the opener.

Freshman Danica Meller scored three goals, Shea Krakowski added a trio of assists, and senior Bella Yarc provided the inspiration for the Wildcats (17-1-3) with an early goal to help send the top seed into the final.

"Bella's goal just two minutes into the game gave us the kind of start we were hoping to have, and I am sure it really put (GBS) on its heels also," said Meller, now second on the team behind Krakowski with 18 goals.

"All we talked about leading up to this game was to come out strong, play our style of soccer, and to put them under pressure with our attack, and defense," added Yarc, whose angled attempt beat keeper Elena Diaz-Lugo at her near post in the second minute.

Meller doubled the Wildcats’ advantage at 20 minutes, but a Natalie Schmidt goal two minutes before the intermission likely dashed the hopes of the Titans of coming back from three goals down.

"The focus of our team right now is right were we want it to be. We're playing with a lot of confidence, but we know we can be even better," said Wildcats coach Ian Taylor.

The Wildcats were so in control that after Sydney Dulak made it 4-0 just after the break, Meller would score twice between goals from Natalie Schlitt and Krakowski all within four minutes, and just before the hour mark.

The Fremd-Libertyville final at 6 p.m. Friday is a rematch of the 2024 sectional final that saw the Vikings win 2-1 in a thrilling shootout.

That the sectional host Vikings (13-7-3) were able to stay alive for another day happened in part to the goal-scoring heroics of junior Sami Serpico, teammate Jazzy Ocampo, and the dynamic defensive duo of Erika D'Angelo and Cami Tofilon, who together kept Hersey's all-state forward Gracie Lisota from finding the back of the net.

"(Gracie) is such a dangerous player, but tonight Erika and Cami (together) defended her about as well as they could, not allowing her to use that great left leg that she has to put anything of quality on frame," said a grateful Vikings coach Steve Keller, after his club claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

The Huskies (13-8-2), who defeated the Vikings 1-0 on a Lisota goal on May 3, did well to keep the trio of Lily Mayer, Gwen Zimmerman and Serpico from prying open their vaunted backline, who protected keeper Sam Fetzer very well.

Fetzer would make a sensational goal-saving stop just before the intermission on a long range blast from Jordan Farrell, while Ocampo turned in a marvelous 80 minutes in every area of her game -- including a superb save on a Gretchen Chianelli corner in the first half.

The loss would end the brilliant four-year careers of both Chianelli and Kiki Craft, both of whom in their final game performed at a level few would match.

"Gretchen and Kiki set the gold standard while in our program, and it is hard to believe they won't be back with us next year," said Huskies coach Mike Rusniak.

When it appeared this game might be heading to overtime, Serpico, with a Huskies defender draped all over the Vikings forward, was still able to use a sublime one-touch past Sam Fetzer in the 68th minute.

Zimmerman's inch perfect early ball would allow Serpico to record her 13th goal of the season.

"We didn't play our best soccer of the night, but we did what we had to do in order to get the result tonight," said Serpico.

"Our first half play was not very good. (Maybe) it was a case of nerves, but we came out and played much better in the second half, and that was the difference tonight," added D'Angelo.