Girls soccer roundup: Lake Zurich wins Prospect invite on PKs; Barrington advances to Naperville invite quarterfinals

Penalty kick shootout success helped Lake Zurich claim its second tournament title this spring.

The Bears, after beating Glenbrook South in kicks on Friday evening, did so again Saturday afternoon in Mt. Prospect when they had a 3-1 advantage in kicks against host Prospect to win the Knights Invite crown.

Bears keeper Erin Bohn, who against Glenbrook South saved one from the spot, turned away two of the three sent her way at George Gattas Stadium to ensure a 2-1 victory to move her club to 10-1-2 on the season.

"(When) it get to kicks, you never know what can happen, but we practice them each and every day, so I really feel like we're ready if a game comes down to them," said Bohn.

Earlier in the season, Bohn was the hero in the Bears’ shootout victory over Glenbrook North that carried the club to its own tournament title.

"Spending time in practice gives us all the confidence needed if we go to kicks, and winning three games because of it will help us later on in the playoffs as well," added Cammy Niepomnik.

The senior bagged the lone goal against Glenbrook South, and did so on Saturday when she drove her angled effort from the right side into the back of the net just before the half hour.

The Knights (5-5-1) — themselves a winner in kicks on Friday against St. Viator, 1-0 (5-4 in kicks) — used an early strike from Courtney Bradbury to give the home side a 1-0 advantage in the 11th minute.

"We played really well against a great team today. It's too bad we didn't get the result we wanted, but this is the type of game that will give us a lot of confidence going forward," said Bradbury.

Both sides would manage a strong wind out of the north all throughout the contest, with Bohn making a brave point-blank save on Bradbury in the 78th minute, and her counterpart, Sarah Bradbury, tested on a trio of attempts all throughout the second half.

Bradbury made a pair of spot-kick saves on Friday against St. Viator to send the Knights into the final.

"We didn't play our best game against St. Viator, but today, I was very proud of the effort, work rate, and heart from all of our players, which gave us a chance to win against a very good opponent," said Knights coach Mike Andrews.

The Knights host MSL East rival Buffalo Grove on Wednesday, while the Bears are away at Zion-Benton on May 1 in a NSC contest.

Glenbrook South (4-4-3) defeated St. Viator (5-4-2) in kicks for third place.

ED WATSON Naperville INVITE

The 25th Ed Watson Naperville Invite features nine of the most recent Daily Herald Top 20 teams, plus reigning state champion New Trier, which began play Thursday, and would finish up group play on Saturday.

With this number of high profile teams on the guest list, it's no wonder that three of the group venues witnessed penalty-kick shootouts to decide a winner, including Naperville North and St. Charles North.

The Huskies won their Invite opener Thursday in kicks over Oswego, but were stunned by Lincoln-Way East, 3-2 (5-3 in kicks) Saturday at home.

Keeper Olivia Oschner's heroics led to the Thursday night triumph against Oswego, and on Saturday, Claire DeClerk and Isa Polaviega each scored to set up the shootout against Lincoln-Way East.

St. Charles North (6-4-1) would defeat Waubonsie Valley 2-1 in its Naperville Invite opener, then would need a 3-1 spot-kick advantage over Oswego East to advance into the quarterfinals.

Barrington would finish up a highly successful week of soccer that saw the reigning MSL champions pick up three more points in league play following its 6-0 win over Rolling Meadows before recording a pair of victories over York and Benet Academy to win its group.

The Fillies (9-0-2) beat York on Friday at home, 2-0 on goals from Piper Lucier and Aybree (AJ) Sanchez, before a 3-0 win against Benet Academy early Saturday morning sent Ryan Stengren's squad into the quarterfinals.

"We had a good week of results, but there is still plenty of room for improvement, so it will be back to work on Monday for the team," said Stengren, who watched Gabby Masterson, Madeline Lewis and freshman Olivia Otto net second half goals against Benet (8-3-2) which currently leads the ESCC with a perfect 4-0-0 record.

Goals from Alessandra Russo and Alexis May would inspire a 2-0 win from Neuqua Valley (9-2-0) over Fremd on Saturday, and win Group D.

No. 1 Naperville Central (10-1-1), on the strength of four goals from Callie Tumilty, would outscore its two opponents 11-0, and win Group A.

Play resumes on Thursday.