Carmel gets defensive against Warren

Carmel Catholic’s girls soccer team continued its defensive dominance Tuesday night.

Shannon Jung scored the game-winning goal, as the Corsairs shut out host Warren 1-0 in a nonconference game in Gurnee.

Carmel (3-1) has allowed just one goal in four games. Corsairs keeper Katie Larson earned the shutout with defensive help from Northern Iowa-bound Sara McHugh, Caitlin Jung, Bri Carlson, Colleen Foley and Maggie Karich.

“Our defense has played fantastic,” Carmel coach John Halloran said. “They are doing so well for us. We just have to do a little bit better scoring goals.”

Carmel won its own quad over the weekend with victories over Prairie Ridge (4-0) and Lake Forest (1-0). However, the Corsairs lost to Hersey (1-0).

The Corsairs had numerous opportunities to score more than one goal against Warren (0-2-1).

“If we connected a little better up top, we probably could have had four to five scoring opportunities,” Halloran said. “Girls were looking to switch the ball and connected some passes. It was all nice to see.”

Shannon Jung scored in the 47th minute after the ball was head flicked by teammate Elizabeth Bream. Warren keeper Amanda Macuiba got a hand on the ball.

“The ball popped back out and I ran on to it,” said Jung, who got her first goal. “I was able to get a shot off. Actually, I was making a run just in case the ball would go that way and it happened.”

Warren missed its chance for the equalizer seven minutes later, when Lexi Reyes hit a shot off the crossbar.

Macuiba played well for the Blue Devils, making 4 stops and clearing several balls out of danger.

“I tried to stop whatever was coming as soon as possible, rather than stay on the line,” Macuiba said. “I wanted to come out, kick it and give my defenders someone to pass back. We just wanted to end the attack right there, rather than stay back and have to make a tricky save.”

Warren showed improvement from its two previous matches — a 1-1 tie with Highland Park and a 3-0 defeat to Maine South

“It was definitely an improvement,” Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. “We’re getting there and we understand that it’s a process. We’re learning a new system. Even though we’ve got a bunch of seniors, it’s a unit that hasn’t played a bunch of games together.”