New arrangement suits Libertyville

Libertyville’s soccer team made some changes for the postseason, and they paid off in the Wildcats’ Class 3A regional semifinal.

Nick Vogel scored twice in the second half, and Libertyville scored three goals in four minutes, as the eighth-seeded Wildcats knocked off No. 10 Stevenson 4-2 at Barrington on Tuesday night.

“We just changed our formation a little bit,” Vogel said. “We’re more attack-minded.”

Vogel found the back of the net with a shot from outside the box to tie the score at 1-1 in the 46th minute.

“I had shots all game and the coaches were telling me to keep shooting,” Vogel said. “The (game-tying shot) just happened to go in. We got so much momentum after that.”

Two minutes after Vogel’s strike, Ryan Dawson scored off an assist from Kevin Reilly. Alex Prillaman added another goal less than a minute later, as Ryan Pacholski earned the assist.

Vogel’s second goal in the 71st minute increased the lead to 4-1.

“We played real well with the new formation,” Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. “We made good runs and looked really good.”

Stevenson (9-6-5) opened the scoring with a goal from Cobi Illian in the 36th minute, and the Patriots held the 1-0 lead into halftime.

“We were just not ready (in the second half),” Stevenson defender Michael Dobin said. “We have a young team. Sometimes those things happen. It’s an 80-minute game and we played only 40. Still, I’m proud of the team for getting a goal back and fighting to the end.”

Stevenson scored in the 76th minute when Max Klaber scored off a feed from Ethan Marx, cutting the Patriots’ deficit in half.

“(Libertyville) was good,” Stevenson coach Mark Schartner said. “There was nothing wrong with our play. Give Libertyville a lot of credit. It was an unbelievable season for us. A lot of kids got a lot of experience, and we’re fortunate to have the group that we have coming back. We had a great group of senior leaders.”