Boys soccer: Libertyville slips past Loyola Academy
Two-time Class 3A boys soccer runner-up Libertyville (2-0-0) managed to hold off Loyola Academy Saturday afternoon in Northfield to open pool play at the 6th Annual Northside College Showcase.
Mickey Reilly opened the scoring at 19 minutes, then teammate Luke Underwood doubled the advantage after the break, but the Wildcats then saw the Ramblers (1-1-0) make things interesting en route to a 2-1 victory.
"The way we played today, and especially in the second half, made it feel like we lost," admitted Reilly, a key figure in the Cats' recent success on the state level.
"If we put that third one in after Luke's goal, then maybe it's different, but either way, we just didn't play well as a team today," continued the senior.
When Loyola was unable to clear its own end, Reilly made the Ramblers pay when he curled in his close-range effort, thanks in part to the work of Colin Klainos, Jack Brennan and Underwood.
It appeared the 10-minute halftime break was all coach Kevin Thunholm's team needed when the Wildcats came out on their collective front feet with Underwood finishing after some quality one-touch passing from Reilly and Brennan led to the Wildcats' second goal at 42 minutes.
"I thought that second half start would get us up and going, but it didn't, making us fight right up until the very end to get the win," said Thunholm, now in his third season at Libertyville.
When captain Andrew Hoepfner lashed home his close-range effort off a Mario Hrvojevic free kick, this one became a game with 26 minutes until time.
"We played so much better in the second half, especially after Andrew's goal, which gave us the energy that was missing up until that point," said Loyola coach Baer Fisher.
"I thought we played well for most of the second half to finish up on a high note that we hope to carry into our second game of the tournament on Tuesday against Grayslake North."
Libertyville will meet tourney host New Trier at Robert Naughton Field at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
New Trier beat Grayslake Central 7-0 in the final contest on Saturday.