Boys soccer: Libertyville blanks Warren

Libertyville's boys soccer team has found many ways to produce positive results in the early season.

Eric Rasmussen led the way with a hat trick in the first half, as Libertyville remained undefeated by rolling past Warren 5-0 in a North Suburban Conference matchup on Thursday night.

It was the third hat trick this season for the Michigan-bound senior, who has 12 goals in eight games. He scored twice on headers and also knocked in a free kick.

"I'm obviously a bigger player than most people," said Rasmussen, who's 6 feet 2 and has scored on six headballs. "I do score on headers and it's something we've done all season. I try to create some space just as the ball is played to open myself up and get to the ball."

The Wildcats' offensive attack is similar to when they won state a couple of years ago.

"We do more than only one thing. We can do a lot of things," Rasmussen said. "We can go wide or keep the ball low in the middle. Other guys have been doing their thing and scoring a lot. We've got more than one threat, for sure."

Tanner Kelly scored the opening goal in the 10th minute off a throw-in from Patrick Graham. Rasmussen scored his first header off a cross from Mickey Reilly in the 13th minute for a 2-0 advantage.

Four minutes later, Rasmussen knocked in his second headball, which was set up by Brandon Quigley. Rasmussen struck again in the 24th minute on a free kick from outside the box.

Libertyville (8-0, 2-0) got a goal in the 74th minute off the leg of Jacob Damodes to complete the scoring.

The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 33-3.

"This team loves playing together, and they're like brothers," Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. "Everybody wants to win. We really tried to focus on the first half, finishing and playing a complete game."

Warren (4-2-2, 0-1-1) suffered its first loss in NSC play after a recent draw with Waukegan.

"I liked the whole game. (Libertyville) is a quality high school team," Warren coach Jason Ahonen said. "We're trying to get to their level. In fact, we learned a lot about ourselves today. Yes, they finished chances, and we didn't have a whole lot. But we learned today."