Girls soccer: Libertyville stays hot, shuts out Mundelein

No. 3 Libertyville treated a big youth night crowd at Walter R. Johnson Field to a 3-0 victory Tuesday in a NSC contest over visiting Mundelein.

Two own goals, plus a goal from Rachel Dzhurov, would be enough to move the Wildcats to 9-2-1 overall, 2-0-2 in league play.

"It was good to get a win tonight to offset those two draws we have against Lake Zurich and Stevenson, but it's a little frustrating to see us come out playing too slow and not moving the ball around like we know we can," said Wildcats coach Ian Taylor.

"We've been such a great second half team, but our first half play lately has not been at a level that we need to be," added senior Meghan O'Donnell, who leads her club with 7 goals.

The Wildcats came into this night with a pair of impressive victories in group play at the Naperville Invite to reach the quarterfinals Thursday when they play Waubonsie Valley.

The visiting Mustangs (9-3-1, 1-2-0) would show their mettle after a disastrous outing last week against Stevenson, playing a strong 80 minutes of soccer to erase any doubts they can play with the top teams in the league.

"Our response tonight after that 9-2 loss to Stevenson is something we should all be proud of. (Libertyville) is a great team, but our overall effort says a lot about this team," said captain Bridget Russ, who will attend the University of Iowa in the fall and pursue a degree in secondary education.

The home side would find the opener in the 15th minute when Danica Meller’s cross into the box for teammate Mairead Fleming was redirected past keeper Morgan Stoffel.

However, the Wildcats would struggle to capitalize on their early gift, recording seven corners in the first half while missing out on a couple of quality chances.

It would take some terrific combination play from Fleming and Sydney Krukonis that led to the Dzhurov goal to double the Wildcats’ advantage with the junior using a nice side-footed finish at the back post.

The game would burst to life after this 46h minute goal, highlighted by a pair of brilliant saves from Stoffel on Shea Krakowski, then Meller, with an acrobatic effort needed to turn the blast over the bar.

The Mustangs attack would find their way thanks to Carlie Bestler, Sam Biesterfeld and Russ, who had close-range efforts turned away by Wildcats keeper Tatiana Valdez just before the hour.

"The team was up to the challenge tonight. Everyone gave a great effort and proved to themselves we can play with the teams in our conference, and especially Libertyville, which could very easily be playing for the Class 2A state title," said Mustangs coach Alix McArthur.

"There are a lot of positives to take from this game. We created chances, we defended well as a team, and Morgan had a great game for us — all of which we look to take this effort with us going forward."

Next up is another league game against Warren Thursday.