Seeger, Lake Zurich calmly power past Mundelein
So much for those nerves that supposedly frazzle Brenden Seeger.
"Sometimes," Lake Zurich's junior midfielder said, "I get nervous on breakaways."
Not Saturday, evidently.
Seeger buried a breakaway chance in the second half, capping the Bears' 3-0 win over visiting Mundelein in a North Suburban Lake Division match.
John Pothast and Jorge Bermudez struck for first-half goals, with Seeger setting up both.
"I'd say I'm more of an assist man," said Seeger, who's tallied 5 goals and 5 assists.
Seeger was a regular on the Bears' state runner-up team last year, and leadership like he provided against Mundelein is essential for the Bears going forward.
Lake Zurich improved to 9-4-1 overall and 2-1 in the NSC Lake.
"The last three games, we've come together as a team," Seeger said. "We're moving the ball better and changing the field. We're finally getting the chemistry together."
Pothast scored four minutes into the game, heading home Seeger's cross.
In the 29th minute, Seeger served a ball to the middle, where Bermudez tracked it down. Bermudez beat a Mundelein defender and then the keeper for a 2-0 advantage.
Seeger's goal in the 67th minute came after he received a pass from Jake Changelon.
"The team is starting to figure things out," said Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz, whose team played only its third home game. "I thought we left a few (goals) out there. But for the most part, we had guys crashing the box and getting to the back of the net."
Bears keeper Jeff Kreutz made 9 stops in earning the shutout. Kreutz thwarted a penalty shot midway through the first half.
Mundelein (7-4-2, 2-1) had been playing good soccer, winning the Prairie Ridge tournament last weekend.
"I thought we played a very poor first half and (Lake Zurich) took it to us," Mustangs coach Dave Ekstrom said. "The second half was much better, but you can't go down 2-0 in a conference game. You have to play 80 minutes and not 40. We've been playing well and expected a better effort. It just wasn't there."