Beadle, Lakes move ahead

Matt Beadle wasn't necessarily looking to overpower the goalie.

Any ol' kind of goal would do the job.

Beadle used a chip shot. He placed it perfectly, giving the top-seeded Lakes soccer team a 2-1 win over No. 2 Grayslake North in the Class 2A regional final held at Lakes on Saturday. It gave the Eagles their first regional championship.

Beadle scored in the 77th minute, taking a pass from Dan Walsh and sending it over Knights keeper Nolan Peek (10 saves) and under the crossbar.

"Coach mentioned to look for a chip shot," Beadle, who scored his third goal, said of coach Kevin Kullby. "I did. A goal is a goal. I've never scored like that before."

Lakes (15-7-1) moves on to the Grayslake Central sectional semifinals and will play Hampshire at 4 p.m. Tuesday, The second semifinal matches Antioch against Marian Central at 6:15 p.m.

Lakes had opportunity after opportunity in the second half, but each time was denied by Grayslake North (15-6).

"We had a chance to put away a goal sooner but we didn't," Kullby said. "Hand it to Grayslake North. They played an excellent game. Their defending was excellent."

The Knights scored first, five minutes into the game, as Julio Zamora touched a ball past Eagles keeper Ben Goforth (4 saves) from short range.

A couple of minutes later, Lakes' Tom O'Brien scored on a rebound, after Peek stopped an initial shot by Steven Korosis

"Lakes was a quality team," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "It was their field and they weren't going down without a fight."

- Rusty Silber

Carmel 2, Wheeling 1: The upsets keep coming for Carmel Catholic, which was handed the No. 15 seed in the Libertyville sectional.

Sophomore Jimmy Ryan scored the game-winning goal, as the Corsairs upended No. 6 Wheeling 2-1 in the Mundelein regional final Saturday.

Carmel (12-11-3), which won its fourth regional, will next play Wednesday at 7 p.m. against No. 2 Deerfield in the sectional semifinals at Libertyville. Deerfield (18-3-1) shut out Glenbrook North 4-0 to win the Warren regional.

"That was special," said Carmel coach John Halloran, whose team had ousted No. 3 Stevenson earlier in the week. "With the season we've had, this is definitely very special. Our kids have been playing with a lot of guts and they execute the game plan we put in front of them. I give them a lot of credit because (Stevenson and Wheeling) crushed us during the season. It's a heck of an accomplishment.

"We changed a few things for the playoffs and it's working out for us. We moved a couple of guys and changed the strategy."

Ryan's 17th goal of the season broke a 1-1 tie in the 72nd minute.

"Phil Gross played a ball from the corner, it went off their heads and it came to me," Ryan said. "I put it down and put it in."

Carmel had taken a 1-0 advantage in the 31st-minute when another sophomore, Jack Stefanski, curled in a corner kick.

Wheeling (15-7-2) tied the game at 1-1 a couple of minutes later. Leo Elizalde scored from the top of the box.

Carmel keeper Lukas Manieri held Wheeling scoreless for the last 40 minutes, making 5 of his 8 saves.

"I think the elements worked against us," Wheeling coach Ed Uhrik said. "The style of play that we play and the wind worked against us. And we were on a sloppy pitch. Carmel had to play on it too. But we wanted to possess the ball in the middle and move the ball around, instead of playing kick ball. It just wasn't our day."

- Rusty Silber

Round Lake 3, Woodstock 1: At McHenry, Cesar Garcia, Gilberto Alfaro and Angel Lira scored for the top-seeded Panthers.

Round Lake advances to the Class 3A Boylan sectional and will play Jacobs at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Barrington 3, LZ 2 (OT): Taylor Williams said he really couldn't remember much of anything about his goal. But you can bet the sophomore striker will always remember the celebration that occured after his game-winner hit the back of the net.

Williams' strike in the 92nd minute stunned top seed Lake Zurich and the big home crowd at Barrington on Saturday as the Broncos defeated the Bears 3-2 in OT to capture their own regional soccer title and advance into the Rockford Boylan sectional next Tuesday. Barrington will play either the host Titans or Rockford Guilford at 7 p.m.

This unbelievable knockout clash featured not only the top two seeds in this sub-regional, but two of the top 10 teams in the state. And the contest lived up to expectations.

The Bears (19-2-3) demonstrated just why they had earned the No. 1 seed by taking control from the opening whistle, and it was clear that the talented duo of Tim Kreutz and Nick Janus would be a fierce tandem for the home side to handle.

Both Kreutz and Janus, who have combined for over 40 goals this season, gave the Broncos' back line fits all day. Barrington keeper Tom Unak made several big saves, including a game-saving stop on Kreutz when it appeared the Bears would go up 3-1 near the hour mark.

"There were opportunities for us not only in the first half, but in the second, but we just were not able to finish any of those chances," said Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz.

Ryan Mangone turned in a superb effort on both sides of the ball for Barrington, taking some of the Bears' early momentum away when he found the back of the net at the quarter hour with the help of Tommy Arns.

Janus drove home the equalizer at 38 minutes when he finished a wonderful ball from teammate Brett Harper at the spot.

Just seconds after intermission, Janus made it 2-1 after the Broncos were unable to cleaning clear in their own end.

Despite their troubles clearing, the Broncos broke through late and drew even when Noel Irion deftly touched under Bears keeper Taao Scarnato at 78 minutes.

"This season has already reminded me of last year when we won four OT matches during the post-season," said Broncos coach Scott Steib. "So I knew after winning in OT against Cary-Grove that we were capable of doing it again if we had to."

After each side had a chance to win it in the first extra period, Williams ended the match in an instant at the tail-end of a center channel run to delight all those dressed in red and black.

"Everything happened so fast," Williams said just moments after Irion provided the helper, "but all I remember was thinking, 'Don't miss.' "

- Mike Garofola