Libertyville hangs on against St. Charles North

Something had to give Thursday night in Libertyville.

That's where two unbeaten, state-ranked clubs came together on the pitch in a quarterfinal match of the Pepsi Showdown.

The host Wildcats (10-0-0) spoiled the dreams of St. Charles North (10-1-2) when Miles NcNeir drove home the game-winner at 73 minutes to help Libertyville capture a 3-2 victory to advance into the semifinals this Saturday against Larkin. The winner advances into the final at Toyota Park on Sept. 25.

"What a great game to be a part of," said Libertyville coach Andy Bitta, who watched a keenly contested 80-minute match which gave a big crowd plenty for its entertainment dollar on a perfect night for soccer.

"We knew even when we went up 2-0 that we were playing a team that had no intention of giving in, and to their credit, they just came at us as hard as they could to eventually get themselves back even to make for a terrific ending, which fortunately for us finished in our favor."

With the atmosphere electric inside the Wildcats' stadium, it wasn't long before the home fans had something to cheer about when McNeir roared down the right side before finding Shane Reilly unmarked at the end of his center channel run inside the box. The junior was hauled down to give Libertyville a PK just 3 minutes into the match. Marshall Hollingsworth easily converted his spot kick.

"We had some trouble early on in our own end defending, and kind of got caught right there at the start to give them that PK opportunity," said North Stars coach Eric Willson. "We made some adjustments afterward, and then defended very well from that point on. And except for the two other goals which (Libertyville) was able to finish on, I thought our guys did a solid job in the back tonight."

The Stars played a terrific possession game from the 20-minute mark up until intermission, finding their creative force in the middle, Noah Anthony. And with the help of Mike Winnhofer, Jared Casey, Zack Matuszak and Joe Stone, brought on at 26 minutes, the visitors grabbed back the run of play from Libertyville.

"(They) have got some guys who are very dangerous up top, and others, such as their MF (Anthony) running the show out of the middle, are a tough team to defend for 80 minutes," said Bitta.

Libertyville struck again at 55 minutes on a terrific individual effort from Joey Ruppert. The super-quick striker, who at times withdrew to help create chance from afar, collected a short clear and with a burst of speed seperated himself from his closest mark to score on Stars keeper Garrett Creasor.

St. Charles North soon regained its form, and after Anthony watched his left-footed bomb saved by Cats keeper Andrew Bitta, the North Stars drew closer when Stone found the back of the net at 53 minutes.

Another superb free-kick serve from Anthony help the Stars equalize, this time from Winhoffer, who took advantage of the fine work in the area from Drew Smith to keep things alive and score on Bitta.

"One of the things about this team that makes me so proud of them is how they never give up, and keep going hard, even when we get ourselves in a situation like tonight," said Willson. "That's why I knew that even when we were down to such a good team like Libertyville, our guys would go after (them) until we got ourselves back into the match."

Willson and his club thought the worst when Anthony went down and stayed there at the near touchline for several minutes before being helped off my his teammates and the medical staff moments after the Winhoffer goal. However, the Stars' captain returned 10 minutes later, just after McNeir's stunning goal

With extra-time looming, McNeir hardly gave his heroic strike any thought after collecting an outward swinging corner from teammate Austin Bitta. McNeir turned and fired a low drive through a maze of players from both sides.

"All I thought about was just turning and shooting, and if it hit someone going through, I could have cared less at the time," said McNeir.

The Stars three a half dozen players forward with the hope of scoring again, in the closing seconds of regulation, but the Cats' backline led by Adam Witucki, Landon Eyre and Andy Loksa kept the Stars out of the net.

"We got a little lax against a team that you cannot afford to against, and we paid for it, but the guys adjusted well to a few changes in our formation and really did a great job to get a big win for themselves," said Bitta.