Boys soccer: Libertyville blanks Lake Zurich for sectional title

Another 20-win season, another sectional championship.

Libertyville's boys soccer team was more excited about the latter Saturday night. The top-seeded Wildcats kept their perfect season intact by shutting out Lake Zurich 2-0 in the Class 3A Barrington sectional final.

For the second straight year, Libertyville has reached the 20-win plateau. The Wildcats also won the sectional championship for the second year in row.

Michigan-bound Evan Rasmussen scored his 32nd goal of the season, and Mickey Reilly also scored. Wildcats keeper Zach El Ghatit earned his sixth clean sheet by making 4 saves.

Libertyville (20-0) will next face St. Patrick in the Barrington supersectional at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The fourth-seeded Shamrocks won the Evanston sectional final with a 2-1 victory in 2 overtimes over No. 3 Evanston on Saturday night.

Rasmussen and Reilly scored in the first half, and that was too much of a deficit for Lake Zurich (13-7-3) to overcome.

"It was a good win, but we didn't have a pretty game," Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. "First half we looked pretty good. Second half I thought we were out of sorts. (Lake Zurich) was pressing for some goals, so we had to play more defense for a while than we usually do. We just didn't finish in the second half, but 20 wins and a sectional championship ... we can take that."

An opportunistic Reilly scored in the 11th minute. Rasmussen hit a free kick on goal from outside the penalty area. The ball went off the hands of Bears keeper Matt Volmer, and Reilly was there to finish the rebound for his 13th goal.

"Actually, one of my teammates, Brian Quigley, told me that the keeper had dropped the ball on the first couple of shots," Reilly said. "I saw him drop it, so I ran in and tapped it in."

Rasmussen made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute, heading in a corner kick from Jack VanDixhorn. Rasmussen has scored half of his goals this season on head balls.

"It comes naturally for me," Rasmussen said. "There's no preference how to get (goals) as long as it goes in. It feels great to keep moving on and keep doing what we're doing. Great to get this far for the second season in a row. We want to keep it up."

"It was tough in the first half. (Libertyville) possessed the ball more than us," Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said. "We made some adjustments at halftime. We came out and I thought we had some chances in the second half. We just couldn't put them away."