Wycoff goal lifts Carmel

In his fourth game as a forward, Carmel senior Drew Wycoff wanted to make a statement.

Twenty minutes into the first half, the third-year defender did just that.

On the receiving end of a cross, Wycoff pushed the ball forward and fired a shot into the upper 90 from 15 yards out to put the Corsairs up 1-0. It was his second goal of the year and the third of his high school career.

Scoring a second goal before the half would be enough as Carmel went on to defeat Bartlett 2-1 in the Bartlett Tournament held at Millennium Field in Streamwood.

"I absolutely love being up top," said Wycoff. "As a defender, you don't have as much control of the game. It felt great to give my team a lead early."

Getting that goal was a turning point for Carmel as it was Bartlett who came out firing at the net. The Hawks out-shot the Corsairs 7-to-2 prior to the score, but were unable to find the back of the net.

"Defensively we try to keep the game in front of us," said Carmel coach John Halloran.

Ten minutes after taking the lead, midfielder Jack Stefanski added an insurance goal which would later become the game-winner.

In front of the Hawks net, a Corsairs free kick from 30-yards out bounced off of Stefanski into a teammate and deflected back to him. Stefanski got control and booted the ball into the lower left corner past diving Bartlett keeper Jeff Gal.

Gal (9 saves) had a huge second half for the Hawks (3-3-2) collecting a bevy of big saves to keep the Bartlett in the game.

With 29 minutes left to play, Gal made a leaping stop on a Rocket sent from 35-yards out.

Just two minutes later, Bartlett cut the lead in half when Garett Dini found Alex Ortiz, who blasted the ball past a charging Lukas Manieri (7 saves) into the upper right corner to make it 2-1.

Gal stepped up again with 13 minutes remaining when Wycott discharged a perfect hook toward the Bartlett net. Lunging after it, Gal denied the shot, burying it between the ground and his chest.

He made another key stop in the 75th minute on a close-range shot off the foot of Jimmy Ryan.

"Jeff did an excellent job tonight," said Bartlett interim head coach Heather Thomas.

Thomas had her first look at the boys varsity team taking over just prior to game-time as coach Stephen Buchs will be unable to coach the remainder of the season for reasons that remain unclear.

"We made a couple of mental mistakes in the first half, but the second half effort was great," said Thomas. "At the break, we talked about some things that we weren't doing and made small adjustments. We didn't move anybody around. Our guys just stepped it up and nobody quit.

"For my first night working with them, I thought it went really well," she added.

After allowing Bartlett to score, Carmel (4-4-2) tightened up defensively and held on for the win.

"We got it done on both sides of the ball," said Halloran. "This is a young team, and they played with courage tonight. "Watching them battle a tough team made me proud."