St. Viator takes advantage, tops Deerfield

St. Viator's girls soccer team found another way to win Wednesday.

Kayne Stanley's second goal of the season, an opportunistic strike in the final minute before halftime, held up the rest of the way as No. 3 seed St. Viator got past No. 2 Deerfield 1-0 in the Class 2A Grayslake North sectional semifinal. Top-seeded Lake Forest upended No. 5 Prairie Ridge 2-0 in the earlier semifinal.

St. Viator (13-6-3) meets Lake Forest (15-6-1) for the sectional championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Stanley came up with the big goal in the 40th minute, with just 39 seconds left on the clock. She took advantage when Deerfield (12-10-3) was unable to clear a ball.

"Molly (Murphy) hit the ball long and it hit off a (Deerfield) defender," Stanley said. "I just ran on to it, because it was a mis-hit on her part. I just went through it, and went for it. I was also feeling two girls coming up on me and I knew that I didn't have a lot of time. I saw the keeper coming out at me - I just wanted to hit it over her and hope for the best."

The Lions have been searching for their best games in the state tournament, but over the last two games they've had nervous 1-goal victories.

"We still haven't played our best," St. Viator coach Mike Taylor said. "We haven't played some good soccer. But the thing is that you win. That's all the kids at this time of year are looking for.

"We put one away and we held on. I really thought our defense played well. I thought we held them to two good shots the whole game."

Sasha Raslawski earned the clean sheet for the Lions and made 6 stops. She had help plenty of help on defense from Emma Henry, Maureen McGrath, Maria Petrillo and Emily Zabrebelski.

Deerfield had a few minor chances while trying to find the tying goal. The Warriors did apply some pressure over the last 10 minutes and got one really good chance in the final minute off a corner kick, but it was a header that didn't end up on goal.

The one goal that St. Viator had at the end of the first half made a big difference in the outcome.

"I thought we gave away a silly goal and it hurt us," Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. "I just think that we couldn't settle the ball down, connect passes and get a good shot. I really don't think that neither team had control of the ball, because it was bouncing all over the place with a narrow field and a windy day. We couldn't get it down and they couldn't get it down. I think there were very few clean looks from either side."