Boys soccer: Seidl helps Carmel Catholic to healthy start

Compared to the lineup Carmel Catholic had on the soccer field at the end of last season, the Corsairs have a completely different look.

They lost some outstanding players to graduation, including Austin Ehren (Belmont, playing baseball), Rob Rao (DePaul) Brett Cloe (John Carroll), Harry Barnes (Case Western), Nate Passarelli and Kyle Knauer, just to name a few.

But one player back to lead the Corsairs is Sean Seidl. He's returning from an ACL injury suffered last season and already is dependably leading by example.

The senior midfielder had the assist on the game-winning goal as Carmel got past Lakes 2-1 in the opening game of the North Shore Shootout in Lake Forest on Tuesday afternoon.

"Definitely comparing to last year, we knew the playing style would be a lot different," Seidl said. "We're playing a lot more possession, outside to the wings and up top. Right now we're relying on the sophomores that have come up, and they did a great job in this game. They show a lot of composure and maturity on the field."

Matt Grzesiak scored the opening Carmel tally in the 22nd minute following a Michael Handel free kick.

Seidl connected a pass from the middle off on the left side, eventually feeding Aidan Day who scored for a 2-0 advantage in the 78th minute.

"Aidan, he's always there and a step ahead of his defender," Seidl said. "If I got it down there, I knew he would be there fighting for the ball. He was wide open, took it and finished it."

Lakes got a goal back a minute later when Max Keenan knocked in a header.

"I thought for the good stretches of the game we worked the ball nicely," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "Especially from our backs to the midfielders - our midfielders did a great job of switching the point of attack and getting the ball up to our forwards. It would be like, we'd swing a few good passes and then it would be a pass off target that took away from the momentum that the team was creating for itself. It was two equally matched teams."

The new look for the Corsairs left Carmel coach Ray Krawzak pleased with the results.

"I was pleased with the way we opened up," Krawzak said. "We've got some people that play older than they seem. I was liking how the back line was looking. I thought we could've had more quick easy chances, but we'll learn how to move off the ball as we get more experience with this group."

• Highland Park shut out host Lake Forest 2-0 on Tuesday.

The Scouts will pair up against Lake in the consolation semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

• In the other matches Tuesday, Zion-Benton (2-0) rolled past Round Lake 4-1 and Deerfield upended Dundee-Crown 2-1.

Zion-Benton will play Deerfield in the other semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, while the Panthers will take on the Chargers in the other consolation semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.