Boys soccer: Libertyville squeaks past Waukegan

The second boys soccer meeting this season between Libertyville and Waukegan was a completely different matchup than the first one in the Northside College showcase at New Trier, which the Wildcats were victorious in by a three-goal margin to win the tournament title.

This one was a North Suburban Conference battle and the level of intensity has gone up with these teams over the last few years.

Eric Rasmussen scored the game-winning goal in the final 25.7 seconds that gave Libertyville a 2-1 victory over visiting Waukegan on Thursday night.

The Michigan-bound Rasmussen also had a penalty kick that tied the game for the Wildcats (9-0, 3-0) in the 51st minute. He was taken down in the penalty area by one of the Bulldogs' defenders.

But the one that he scored on in the waning seconds for his 14th goal of the season was off a near perfect cross from Tanner Kelly.

"This was definitely up there and it was incredible," said Rasmussen, who had scored another game-winner with 10 seconds left to beat Hersey in the Class 3A sectional semifinals 1-0 in his sophomore year.

"This one I had a touch, brought it down and had a step to hit it. It was a perfect ball from Tanner. He put it just behind the player, the guy lunged for it and couldn't get there. Luckily, I was right there to put it on my foot."

Libertyville, for the first time all season, had to play from behind and showed how it could handle that situation with the late goal.

"It's what we've talked about, this being a playoff atmosphere," Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. "I know that we already beat them once, which made me a little nervous. Waukegan is always a quality team and well-coached. I thought we would have a different look. They had different players in there and their goalie was on his head. He made save after save out there. I like to see this go down and see what we could do."

In the final minute, Waukegan keeper Marcos Garibay saved a ball off the line for 1 of his 16 saves. Then Libertyville's keeper Zach El Ghatit made a sliding save of his four off a counter attack.

"It's Libertyville and they've always had a great team," Garibay said. "I know them and I respect them. I knew it would be a really hard fight. We came into the game being optimistic and not overconfident. I was just trying to help my team win games, I'm not a selfish player. Playing Libertyville it's always a privilege, I'm grateful and lucky to play here."

Brandon Colunga had put Waukegan up 1-0 in the 42nd minute after taking a pass from Adrian Moreno in the final third.

Waukegan (6-5-2, 0-2-1) played this game much better than the first time and it could meet Libertyville for a third time in the postseason.

"I think we're in a process of working our identity," Waukegan coach Peter Valdez said. "We just haven't played as well as we could have. We need to develop a little more attitude which we showed against (Libertyville) we can do."