LZ sophs shine on senior night
It may have been a night that Lake Zurich honored its seniors, but it was the underclassmen who stole the show.
The Bears shut out visiting Lake Forest 3-0 in a North Suburban Conference Lake Division boys soccer match Tuesday night.
The victory keeps Lake Zurich (13-3-2) in first place in the NSC Lake with a 5-0 record.
Sophomores Nick Janus, Eric Pothast and Tim Kreutz supplied the scoring, while junior goalkeeper Taao Scarnato had 5 saves.
"Nick has done a real nice job for us," Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said. "Taao came out and caught a lot of balls, and our defense, which has been our strong point all season, played a good game."
The seniors honored were Matt Steffen, Mike Jehl, Zach Khoshbin, Justin Pennino, Reid Bergstrom, Mitch Malitz, Mike Morrison and Sam Silva.
Kreutz's goal came midway through the first half off a cross from midfielder Bergstrom, who dribbled down the left sideline before serving the ball.
"I just made the run down the sideline and Tim was right there in front of the goal," Bergstrom said. "It was nice for us to win on senior night."
Pothast's goal came early in the second half on a pass from Steffen, and Janus knocked in his goal with 12:26 left, with Jehl assisting.
A Lake Zurich shot from 15 yards out deflected off the hands of Lake Forest keeper Chris Weber, and Janus pounced on the scoring opportunity.
Lake Forest (8-7, 2-2-1) had several chances to score in the second half.
Senior midfielder Alex Bennatan booted a ball from 20 yards out, but it hit the top of the goalpost and Pennino kicked the ball out of bounds.
Later in the half, senior Jon Svigos took a breakaway shot from 15 yards out, but Scarnato made a diving stop and Pennino again cleared the rebound.
"We didn't mark up on defense around the box very well, especially during some crucial times of the game," Scouts coach Rob Parry said. "We had several silly give-always and they were good at controlling the box. I felt that we were able to move the ball and get around the corner in the second half, but Lake Zurich covers very well defensively."