Sorby keeps it close, but Mustangs fall short

Mundelein's boys soccer season is a week old, yet junior goalkeeper Eric Sorby already is starting to make a name for himself -- and the rest of the team is not too far behind.

Sorby made 10 saves Wednesday night in a 1-0 loss to Deerfield in a nonconference match.

"Sorby keeps you in every game," Mundelein coach Dave Ekstrom said. "We were pushing numbers and he was making big saves on the counterattacks. He's a great goalkeeper and he's fearless. He kept us in the game when it counted."

The Mustangs (1-1-2) had tied McHenry and Highland Park, but Sorby is regularly putting pressure on opponents. He did it again against Deerfield (5-0) throughout the second half.

"We kept the pressure on (Deerfield) all game," said Sorby, who had 8 of his 10 saves in the second half. "We didn't have that many people in back (going for the tying goal). For the most part we were able to shut them down.

"Every game you've got to be ready for anything and you've got to stop all the chances."

Deerfield got its goal late in the first half, when Ben Harris fired a shot from close range. Sorby stopped the shot, but it bounced back to the middle, where Warriors junior Brian Frankel scored on the rebound.

"There were tons of people in the box and Mundelein's defense was shutting us down," said Frankel of his third goal in five games. "You see where the ball is going to go and you go to where the gap is. I went to the gap and it worked out nicely."

The Warriors were coming off a 4-2 North Shore Shootout victory over Lake Forest on Monday.

"I think we had it there with numbers up in the box," Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. "I thought we could've scored on Ben Harris' shot, but we followed it up.

"We pressured in the box and it wasn't any type of fluke goal. We're pleased to be where were at. We can't let down and need to play with intensity, because others will be coming after us."

Also in the second half, Mustangs junior defender Eric Valin kept the game within a goal by flicking out a headball while running into the Mundelein goal after Sorby got a hand on another Frankel shot.

The Mustangs had one of their better games thus far against a good Deerfield team.

"We played well for much of the game and we controlled the ball much better," Ekstrom said. "We possessed the ball much better, but we need to put the ball into the back of the net. We don't have the finishing touch right now."