Boys soccer: Ferguson's 2 goals lift Lake Zurich over Glenbrook North

Lake Zurich junior Ian Ferguson celebrated his first goal of the season by pumping his fists and running to the corner on Monday night.

Ferguson's enthusiasm woke up the crowd after an uneventful first half that saw only one save between the Bears and Glenbrook North. Ferguson repeatedly starting yelling "let's go" to inspire his teammates.

Just over six minutes later, Ferguson lived up to his words, tapping in his second goal to lead the Bears to a 3-1 win over the Spartans in the Barrington Classic. The Bears (2-0-1) scored all three of their goals in the second half.

Several minutes before his first goal, Ferguson clanged a ball hard off the cross bar. Ferguson gave his team a 2-1 lead when he scored on a breakaway, nailing in his shot into the far post in the 71st minute.

"The first half we were just battling, but we knew we had the capability in the second half," Ferguson said. "This was a bigger field than we normally play on, and we like to get wide. We really utilized that in the second half."

Ferguson notched his second career two-goal game in the 77th minute, tapping a shot in front of the net.

"I'm excited for what's to come this season, and looking forward to seeing how far this team can go," Ferguson said.

Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said Ferguson is evolving into a solid all-around player capable of leading the Bears.

"We're young, still trying to figure some things out and how to connect but we pushed better in the second half," he said. "Ian works hard all the time, practices hard, so you always know what you are going to get. It's nice to see a guy like that get rewarded for those efforts. He started all last year in the spring."

Lake Zurich's Nick Orr started the scoring by knocking in a shot in the 48th minute. Nine minutes later, Glenbrook North got the equalizer on a goal by Ian Lee.

The Spartans (1-2-1) struggled in the second half, when starting goalie Max Bachenheimer left the game with an injury early in the second half with the game scoreless.

"We had a good flow to the game and really liked our chances at halftime," Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi said. "It was a tough break with our goalkeeper getting injured. But our kids responded after that. We kind of fell apart defensively and gave the ball away."