Adelman, Lake Park earn tie at Mundelein

Not many times do you get a second chance to score a game-tying goal.

Emily Adelman beat the odds and made it happen on Wednesday, bringing Lake Park back from a 2-goal deficit as the Lancers earned a 2-2 tie against host Mundelein in a nonconference match.

Adelman scored in the 74th minute off a Casey Harris corner. Adelman saw her first kick go off the post - but the ball bounced back to her feet for another try.

"I was real angry that I hit the post at first," said Adelman, who ended up scoring her first goal of the season. "But then I got the ball again, and I needed to finish it. You usually don't get a second chance, so I was real excited. I was just fortunate to get it."

Bridget Barnhisel-Tolemy scored the first goal for Lake Park (1-6-2) in the 48th minute when she found the back of the net after a rebound in front.

The Lancers entered the match with numerous injuries and had seven of its players out of the lineup. Lake Park brought players up from the lower levels to help make a go of it.

"We had to battle through a lot of injuries this year," Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said. "We had to learn how to play through that adversity, and we've had matches not go our way. For them to keep fighting in this one and to get the equalizer in the second half speaks volumes of the team and their will to keep playing.

"When you're battling through adversity and down 2-0 in the first half, it could have been easy for the team to keep their heads down. But we talked at halftime to make sure their heads were up, to continue believing and take it one goal at a time."

Mundelein (4-1-3) jumped in front with 2 goals in the first half, and Kaila Cancelli contributed on both of them. She tallied the opening goal after getting a pass from Cristy Nambo in the 19th minute. Cancelli assisted on Mundelein's second goal some six minutes later, as Shannon Carroll finished and gave the Mustangs a 2-goal lead.

"Everyone works hard, and we're a very strong team," Cancelli said. "Everyone works together out there. We connect our passes, make open runs behind the defense. We just have work on what we do in practice - take shots from the outside, and work on the distance. All we need to do is to start getting our heads up and paying attention to take the shot."

Despite a great effort from Mundelein, the Mustangs were left to consider that they weren't able to protect a 2-goal advantage.

"We played fantastic the whole game," Mundelein coach Ernie Billittier said. "We made two mistakes - that's it. We were the better team. Soccer is a mistake-heavy game.

"In the terms of us generating opportunities, I'm still very, very pleased. We always talk about the race to get 3 goals. When you get 3 , you can kill off a game. We can't give up mistakes and give up goals like that. It speaks for itself. That's the game of soccer. You have to finish your opportunities."