Girls soccer regional roundup: Libertyville, Stevenson, Barrington among regional champions

With the conclusion of regional soccer this weekend, it will set the stage for some high drama next week when sectional play arrives.

The past two days provided some terrific highlights, so let's take a look at a few of the highlights.

The NSC continues to prove it to be a deep and talented league, with league champion and No. 1 seed Libertyville looking like one of the top Class 2A teams in this half of the state.

The Wildcats (16-2-2) overwhelmed host Wauconda on Friday to claim their sixth straight regional crown following a 7-0 victory at Ray Porten Field.

Danica Meller led the way with three goals for the Wildcats who have now outscored their last six opponents 43-3.

The Wildcats will play league rival Lake Zurich on Tuesday at Mel Eide Field at 4 p.m., followed by the Deerfield-Lake Forest contest at 6 p.m.

The most entertaining Class 3A contest of the day was Stevenson's breathtaking 3-1 victory over Hersey (8-5-3) in Hoffman Estates at Charles Feutz Field at the Conant regional venue.

This thriller between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds featured non-stop attacking excitement, superb defending and goalkeeping, plus free kick excellence which proved to be the difference in the win for Stevenson (12-4-1).

Next up for the Patriots will be top seed and MSL champion Barrington in a sectional semifinal at Schaumburg on Tuesday.

The Fillies (17-3-2) defeated the Saxons for the third time this season on goals from Bella Pastore and Olivia Otto.

Freshman Ariana Glavatsky buried two free kick attempts, the first just before the intermission and second 10 minutes after Kristen Getz equalized to give the Patriots the lead for good.

"It was the type of game we all expected. (Hersey) had two great attacking players with Grace Lisota and Nora Eitz, and a fantastic center-back in Grace Balis (so) we knew we had to be at our best for the entire game, and obviously those two goals from Ariana were big for us," said junior Abby Samson.

This was the first regional title for the Patriots since 2023.

Both sides would rattle the bar during a frantic opening quarter hour: Glavatsky (16 goals) at 13 minutes, then the super-sophomore Eitz (13 goals) just moments later.

Eitz would play a lovely early ball to her three-time all-state teammate Lisota in the 30th minute, forcing Patriots keeper Evelyn Puma into action.

Puma's counterpart, Ellie Eitz, came to the rescue four minutes later, turning away a point-blank attempt from Sienna Dirks.

Another marvelous save from Eitz from in close by Sydney An kept things close in the 74th minute, but the ever present An put the icing on the cake two minutes from time.

"I know and play with a few of the Stevenson players, so we all knew it would be a hard-fought game that we fell a little short in," said Balis. "The seniors on this team have been amazing players, teammates, and friends, and they will all be missed."

Warren, the No. 1 seed at the Machesney Park sectional, made quick work of No. 9 Jacobs on Friday evening to win its eighth regional crown and advance into the Tuesday sectional semifinal against NIC-10 power, No. 4 seed Guilford (19-3-1) and USC-bound, Berkeley Stenstrom, who has 41 goals on the season.

Freshman star Kenzie Szczerowski bagged her second three-goal game of the season, giving her 18 goals thus far in the Blue Devils 7-0 victory over Jacobs.

Carmel Catholic (10-11-0) advanced after a 2-1 win over crosstown rival Mundelein (11-8-1) to win the Dundee-Crown title, and will play No. 2 seed Huntley (14-3-2) after the Warren-Guilford 4 p.m. semifinal.

No. 5 Lake Zurich would avenge an earlier defeat to No. 4 St. Viator (10-4-3) Saturday afternoon at Morris Field in Arlington Heights.

When 100 minutes of soccer could not decide the game, this regional final went to penalty kicks, where the Bears (15-5-1) quartet of Reilly Novak, Zoe Chang, keeper Kelly Nelson, and Sam Tritsch all converted their spot-kicks, while the Lions finished just three.

The 4-3 advantage gave the Bears a 1-0 victory to send them into their own Class 2A sectional semifinal on Tuesday against NSC rival Libertyville.

The Bears, who lost a year ago to Barrington in a sectional final for the second consecutive season, lost to St. Viator in their Knights Invite tournament opener in late April at host Prospect.

Maggie Drake, Lilly Konopka, and Kalin McCrea were all perfect in their spot-kick attempts for the Lions who finished second in the ESCC this spring.

No. 2 seed Fremd (14-6-1) proved to be too much for visiting Glenbrook South on Friday night during a 6-3 home victory at Hildebrandt Field in Palatine.

Senior Sami Serpico netted three first half goals, assisted on another after the break, with Gwen Zimmerman, Lily Mayer, and Chloe Gordon all adding to the scoreline to give the Vikings their sixth straight regional title, and 15th in program history.

The Vikings will now take on No. 3 seed Glenbrook North (18-4-2) in the second sectional semifinal contest at Schaumburg on Tuesday.

The Spartans’ 2-0 defeat over No. 6 Maine South was the second victory of the season over the Hawks.

"Scoring those two early goals really helped set the tone in this game, and it gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the night," said Vikings junior Josie Thomas who gave her side terrific work as an outside-back.

Serpico, who now has 17 goals on the season, hit the opener inside four minutes with a sensational left-footed angled blast that exploded into the far inside netting.

Over in Class 2A, Lakes Community scored six goals for the second time this week in Lake Villa en route to a 6-0 victory over Cary-Grove to claim its own regional title for the second consecutive season.

The Eagles (14-6-0) who defeated NLCC-rival Grayslake Central last Monday (6-0) in a regional semifinal, went out to a 4-0 advantage at the break over No. 3 Cary-Grove (6-8-2) before adding two more to earn their ninth shutout of the season.

Raina Schmitt had 2 goals and an assist, as did Leah Rojas, while senior Anya recorded three assists to set a single season program record, and now is tied the career record (37) for assists.

"We dominated play from the start, and the girls played really well, scoring goals from quality passing," said coach Kevin Kullby.

Next up for the No. 2 seed in the Crystal Lake Central sectional will be No. 1 Belvidere North (14-1-1) on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Not to be overlooked is the No. 4 seed Leyden Eagles, who despite dropping its regional final to St. Laurence, 1-0 in Burbank on Friday, would still enjoy a historic season under coach Jim Rossetti.

The Eagles (12-5-2, 4-2-0) were anointed their best seed in program history and defeated for the first time in league play Morton and eventual league champion Hinsdale South, and would remain in the race for the WSC Gold division until the final week of the regular season.

Senior Evelyn Flores would return from club for her final year at Leyden to become an all-state candidate, and easily one of the best keepers in the area.