Carmel 2, Mundelein 0
Since the start of the playoffs, Carmel Catholic sophomore Kassidy Brown has taken shot after shot that missed her intended target.
Brown picked the right time Thursday night, making an adjustment -- and she had some help when she knocked a shot that caromed off the post and into the net for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
"I've been in a drought of shooting," Brown said. "I think with this shot, I was more squared up with my body to the goal. The other shots I just took it too quickly."
The second-seeded Corsairs went on to capture a 2-0 victory over No. 1 Mundelein to earn the Class AA Mundelein sectional crown in a match played at Libertyville High School.
The Corsairs (21-1) will play Hersey (19-2-4) in the Buffalo Grove supersectional Monday at 6 p.m. -- with a berth in the Class AA Elite Eight at North Central College.
The Huskies got by Fremd 3-2 -- 5-4 in shootout kicks -- to capture the Palatine sectional crown.
Brown broke a scoreless tie in the 61st minute by taking a long service from Deanna LaPenta and connecting on a 25-yard blast off the post.
"All I remember was getting the ball, turning and using a cutback move," said Brown, who has 16 goals. "I shot it and it hit the inside post. I was just freaking out.
"This is huge and I'm so happy we got this, the one game of our season we got (Mundelein) back."
Mundelein (17-3-4) won the previous meeting 1-0 in early April.
The Corsairs' Sara Petermann scored her 34th goal in the final minute for insurance. Petermann took a pass from Emily Tripicchio and scored on a breakaway from midfield.
"That's one of the best high school games I've been apart of," said Carmel coach John Halloran. "There were a couple of times I was smiling with the play going back and forth.
"Michelle Rowley (Mundelein sweeper) had an amazing game. She made it almost impossible for us to get behind them. You've got to give credit to (Mundelein) for battling, credit to the coaches and the heart of the kids."
Rowley was big part of the reason Mundelein was playing toe-to-toe with Carmel, along with the goalkeeping of Nikki Allen (6 saves) and the rest of the Mustangs' effort.
"It wasn't our best game, but our team gave it our all," Rowley said. "We had some nice shots. We tried to possess the ball and we put our hearts into this game. It just went to Carmel and hats off to them."
Carmel has been averaging nearly 5 goals a game, but the Mustangs' defense kept things scoreless until Brown's goal.
"The difference in this game was that Kassidy Brown put an unstoppable shot off the post," said Mundelein coach Dave Ekstrom. "It was a perfect shot, and when that happens there's nothing you can do."