Boys soccer: Libertyville's roll continues past Wheeling
The top-seeded boys soccer team from Libertyville just keeps rolling right along.
The Wildcats (17-0-2) got goals from Greg Krikorian and Ryan Wittenbrink to help Libertyville win a tight Class 4A sectional semifinal at Fremd on Tuesday, 2-0 over Wheeling.
Next up for Libertyville is a 6 p.m. sectional championship matchup against Mid-Suburban League champion Barrington.
Set pieces played a key part in the outcome, with both goals coming from corner kicks. The first came on a superb inward swinging drive from Krikorian, the second when Wittenbrink bagged his 33rd goal of the season to give coach Kevin Thunholm's team some breathing room.
"We watched video of Wheeling, so we knew what we were in for tonight," said Thunholm, "and they did a good job against us tonight. But we've been talking about how important dead-ball and set-piece opportunities are in the postseason are, so it was good to see us get two tonight when those chances came about."
Libertyville looked every bit the part of its fine reputation as it roared out of the blocks on this cold night in Palatine.
"They were big, strong and quick, and it took everything we had defensively to absorb their pressure to keep them off the scoreboard in the first 20-25 minutes," said Wheeling coach Kevin Lennon.
Both coaches were quick to praise Wheeling keeper Brian Arambula for his superb save on Riley Hoff, who'd collected a Wittenbrink serve into the box and nearly scored in the 22nd minute.
Wheeling (14-6-1) went with three up top after the intermission, moving its top two midfielders, Vicente Castro and Jared Urueta, forward along with Phil Bucko. Wheeling, meanwhile, dropped top scorer Jose Mariscal into the role of playmaker.
The quartet did manufacture a couple of chances after the halftime switch, the best coming when, after a nice build-up, Wheeling created its first corner of the evening.
Mariscal bent his cross into the 6-yard box with pace, but it was sent out of the area with a strong punch from Libertyville keeper Thomas Pearson, who turned in a solid 80-minute effort between the sticks.
Krikorian was on target when he curled in his left-footed corner. It found the far side for his sixth goal of the season, breaking the deadlock in spectacular style.
"The wind might have helped a little bit, but I just put in into the air and toward the back post, then watched it go in," said the senior of his strike at 63 minutes.
Castro nearly tied it three minutes later when the Wheeling star rattled his close-range shot off the bar after running onto another Mariscal corner.
Pearson drove the lose ball out of the box, and later, another did likewise with a Mariscal free kick.
But the Indiana-bound Wittenbrink double the advantage in the 69th minute. That's when teammate Evan Rasmussen kept alive a Krikorian corner long enough for Wittenbrink to slot under Arambula.
"We were a little tight at the start, but overall, it was a very good first half of soccer for us," said Thunholm. "We defended well in the second half, especially when Wheeling had us on our heels for a bit."
Thunholm cited the work of the back line led by Grant Herbek, Nathan Pacholski and Mason Williams.
Despite the season-ending defeat, Lennon said he could not be more proud of his group.
"Libertyville is a great team, but we kept with them, especially in the second half when we had a couple of chances but we just couldn't finish them," Lennon said.
"David (Soto) did so well defending Wittenbrink. Randy Pietrowski, Miguel Gonzalez and Robert Cruz all had terrific games once again, and there's no reason for any of the guys to hang their heads after they all gave a great effort here tonight."