Crystal Lake South blanks Huntley
The soccer ball spent a lot of time in the Crystal Lake South half of the field Thursday evening.
The ball didn't spend any time in the back of the Gators' net.
Goalkeeper Jaclyn Przybylski made 8 saves as CL South shut out Huntley, 2-0, allowing the Gators to continue to control their own destiny in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division.
"I was just taking it one step at a time, watching every shot, making sure my defense was marking and my defense talked to me a lot throughout this whole game," Przybylski said. "I give them so much credit."
CL South (12-2-4, 5-0) leads Prairie Ridge (4-1 in FVC Valley) by a game in the division race. The teams play Tuesday in South's final regular-season game. The Gators beat the Wolves in the Prairie Ridge tournament earlier this season.
Brandie Minogue gave the Gators a 1-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the game Thursday. She took a ball on the left side of Huntley's penalty area and fired a shot that went over Red Raiders' goalkeeper Jessica Galason's head and into the side netting.
Przybylski made 6 saves in the first half as Huntley (12-6, 2-2) dominated the possession, outshooting CL South, 12-2.
"She had a monster day for us," Gators coach Jay Mueller said. "That's by far the best day she has had for us. She really stepped up big."
CL South increased its advantage midway through the second half. Audrey Collard found Katherine Siavelis with a long throw-in at the top of the 6-yard box. Siavelis beat Galason to the ball and made it 2-0 with 19:34 remaining in the game.
Huntley had a couple more good scoring opportunities in the second half, but couldn't find a way past Przybylski or failed to get a shot on target.
"The reason we love (soccer) is because the team that gets outplayed can still win," Red Raiders coach Kris Grabner said. "I felt like that's what (South) did. I thought they really collapsed their defense in the middle. We couldn't build through the middle and we didn't build the attack to the wing well enough."