Ehrens, Carmel Catholic stop Cary-Grove

Austin Ehren has seen hat tricks before, but this is one trick that never gets old.

Ehrens, a Carmel Catholic sophomore, netted his third hat trick of the season Thursday night as the Corsairs stunned visiting Cary-Grove 5-1.

Ehren previously had hat tricks against Nazareth and Lake Forest Academy.

"I think the long balls and the ones to the corner helped me a lot," said Ehren, who has 14 goals this season. "I just make runs at a certain time and my teammate Scott (Cloe) can find me. It was a good win by our team."

Ehren broke a 1-1 tie in the 21st minute after taking a pass from Braco Lasso to put Carmel (10-4, 2-1) ahead.

Ehren struck again just over a minute later, with another assist from Lasso.

On his third goal, in the 48th minute, Cloe assisted to put the Corsairs in control at 4-1.

Josh Grzesiak scored the other 2 goals for Carmel.

"I think we expected to be in this game," Carmel Catholic coach Ray Krawzak said. "We expected it to be a good game, and we're pleased with the result - especially with the disappointing loss to Lakes (on Tuesday). The best thing in this game was to get ahead and not allow another goal."

Cary-Grove (5-3-2, 1-1) got its only goal from Esteban Angeles in the first half.

"You got to give Carmel credit," Cary-Grove coach Mark Olson said. "They came out and took it to us. We were on our heels and we had a hard time marking up."

Cary-Grove next meets Lakes at 10 a.m. Saturday in the final game of the Carmel quad.