Deerfield drops St. Viator in OT

The St. Viator girls soccer team’s bid for another sectional final appearance was there for the taking on Tuesday night.

The Lions scored three times in the second half and held a 2-goal advantage.

But top-seeded Deerfield recovered to tie it in regulation and force overtime, where the Warriors scored again to beat fourth-seeded St. Viator 4-3 in a Class 2A Lakes sectional semifinal in Lake Villa.

“I thought the girls came out in the second half and played well,” St. Viator coach Mike Taylor said. “When you get the 3 goals, you’re controlling the ballgame.

“But then, you’re throwing the control of the game away. It’s just mental mistakes, not physical mistakes.”

St. Viator (12-8) found itself down by a goal starting the second half to Deerfield (16-6-2).

The Lions’ Molly Murphy scored in the 44th minute and then again in the 60th minute.

Maggie Leazer added the third St. Viator tally off an assist from Lauren Kohn in the 64th minute for a 3-1 St. Viator lead.

“We tried to leave it all out there on the field,” said Lions midfielder Erin Renee Murphy. “We didn’t want to end it this way. We put it out there to try to get one more game with each other.

“Coming back from halftime, we really had to put a lot of effort after the early deficit. Unfortunately, we didn’t pull it out.”

Deerfield regained some momentum just 30 seconds after St. Viator went up by 2 goals. The Warriors’ Trishie Schweinfurth scored on a penalty kick after a Lions foul in the penalty area, trimming the lead to 3-2.

Claire Muelert scored the tying goal in the 70th minute for Deerfield.

Emily Kellow scored the game-winner in the 87th minute.

“It’s not normal to come back from that,” Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. “This is special for us, because this is the first time we’ve won a game in sectionals. We’re trying to build a program that to get to the consistency of (St. Viator). That takes a lot of experience, and a lot of hard work.”