Scores at start and end of first half lead Corsairs past JCA

By Curt Herron

Several things bring a smile to a coach's face when his team is playing a tough road match and also involved in the hunt for a conference title.

Two good examples of such are being able to collect an early goal and also scoring shortly before halftime.

Carmel managed to accomplish both of those things in Monday's East Suburban Catholic Conference match at Joliet Catholic Academy.

And that proved to be critical for the coach John Halloran's Corsairs in the showdown between the two squads who shared last year's ESCC title.

Sarah McHugh scored both of the first half goals, one in the first minute and the other in the 37th minute, as Carmel claimed a 3-1 win in Joliet.

Kassidy Brown assisted on the first goal and later had an assist on Lauren Bowles' second half tally, which completed the scoring.

Lauren Lehman chipped in with the assist on the middle goal and Maddie Allen performed well in goal to help the Corsairs cause.

As a result of the win, Carmel (9-4-3, 6-1) kept alive its hopes of capturing its fifth straight conference championship.

The Corsairs host Benet Academy on Wednesday, entertain St. Joseph on Saturday and play at Saint Viator next Wednesday.

Nazareth (8-1), who suffered its lone ESCC loss to Carmel, can clinch at least a share of the title with a Wednesday home win over Saint Viator.

Beside their match with Nazareth, the Lions (6-1) play at Bishop McNamara on Saturday before battling the Corsairs next week in Arlington Heights.

Benet (6-1) is also in the picture, with a home match against Marian Catholic and a road trip to JCA next Wednesday following its Carmel match.

Although the Angels were no longer technically in the league race, that didn't mean that they didn't have plans to act as a spoiler.

But the Corsairs took some of the wind out of JCA's sails when they scored right away, and then again shortly before the halftime break.

The win was the fourth in a row for the Corsairs, who have only allowed three goals and no more than one in any match during that span.

Click to hear coach John Halloran interview

On its first possession of the match, the Corsairs struck when Brown found McHugh, who connected from close range to give Carmel a 1-0 lead.

That certainly wasn't a bad situation to be in with players like Jessica Gilstrap, Helen Wagner and Brown in the back supporting Allen.

About midway through the half, Shannon Jung provided the next good threat for the visitors, but her short attempt was halted.

JCA nearly evened things up shortly after that when one of its players got past defenders but Gilstrap stepped in and broke the play up.

As time was winding down in the opening half, Carmel found the net again following a pass from Lehman to McHugh, to make it a 2-0 match.

While things were looking up for the Corsairs, things were far from being over, as the Angels showed about 10 minutes into the new half.

That's when Lindsey Condon moved the ball upfield and connected from close range to pull JCA to within 2-1 with plenty of time left.

After that score, Halloran asked Wagner to keep Condon from causing further havoc and the Corsairs junior proved to be up to the challenge.

Click to hear Helen Wagner interview

A short time later, McHugh sent a liner from the side that the keeper deflected off the crossbar, where it bounced away to lead to a corner.

Carmel got an insurance goal about 10 minutes after JCA's score to regain its two-goal advantage and effectively halt the host's momentum.

Brown sent a pass toward Bowles, who connected for the score and the Corsairs had some extra cushion to work with during the last 20 minutes.

While JCA kept up the pressure over the next 10 minutes, Allen stopped a bouncer and later a long free kick was also deflected away.

Jung almost scored shortly after that when she sent a slow roller toward the net that hit the post and went back into the field of play.

McHugh had one final chance to complete a hat trick for the day but her late attempt was deflected away and resulted in another corner kick.

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