Girls soccer: Lake Zurich ties up Libertyville in muddled NSC Lake race

The North Suburban Lake Division girls soccer race got a bit more complicated Thursday night.

Lake Zurich battled host Libertyville to a 1-1 tie. Stevenson's 6-0 shutout of Zion-Benton and Mundelein's 1-0 loss to Lake Forest made things even more interesting.

There is now a four-way race with one game remaining for each team. Libertyville (8-3-1, 3-1-1) and Stevenson (7-5-1, 3-1-1) are tied for first place and will play each other at Libertyville next Tuesday. That same day, Lake Zurich (9-4-2, 2-1-2) travels to Warren (7-6-1, 3-2).

There could be an outright winner or three teams could be using a tiebreaker to figure out who will be in the NSC championship game next week.

"We were playing for the win (against Lake Zurich)," Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. "We weren't playing for the tie. I thought we played a good game. We played a better first half than the second half."

Libertyville got its goal from Mekenna Yoor in the 12th minute. She knocked in a rebound off the crossbar for her fourth goal in the last two games. Annie Thompson took the initial shot.

"Coach Bitta always tells us to make a run toward the back post," Yoor said. "I just kept going and I was able to bang it in with by knee."

Lake Zurich kept pushing to find the tying goal and came close on a couple of occasions in the second half. The Bears found the equalizer in the 74th minute. Kristin Brousseau sent a cross from the left side of the penalty area, where Emily Undelhoven took control of it and found the back of the net.

The Bears recovered from a 2-0 loss to Mundelein on Tuesday.

"It really shows the quality of the conference," Lake Zurich coach Michael Castronova said. "Both teams were going at it hard. First half, we stayed in there going against the pressure. We got back in it at the end.

"We've had a few injuries lately and are working things out. But we're getting people back strong. Sometimes in games you put a lot of pressure on and the shots don't in. This game too. It was a hard-fought battle. Libertyville is always a well-coached team."