Corsairs earn date with Vikings for regional championship

By Mike Garofola

Carmel is in the regional final Friday night with tourney host, and top-seed Fremd, following a convincing 1-0 win over No. 10 Deerfield Tuesday night in Palatine.

The Corsairs (11-6-3) advanced to meet the Vikings (14-4-2) courtesy of a wondrous strike from sophomore Shannon Jung as the first half was about to end.

In addition, they received terrific play from their midfield and backline, which at times dominated the Warriors for long stretches.

"I think everyone with this team will admit that our regular season didn't measure up to what we had expected it to be," said Carmel head coach John Halloran.

"But tonight's victory washes away (that) part of our season, and helps us look forward to what's ahead, and that's Fremd on Friday."

In the early stages both clubs traded blows, with the Corsairs looking for, and finding the trio of Lauren Lehman, Sara McHugh and Meegan Johnston consistently.

Meanwhile, the Warriors searched for Ali Ragins, Audrey Rabushka and Kya Koplin, however, not with the success in which Carmel would enjoy.

The Corsairs would slowly earn the run of play, and would push its opponent to its limit with strong runs from the aforementioned trio.

They also got plenty of pace from the middle of the park, with Lauren Bowles one of the key figures, either on the ball, or while sending several deep flip-throws into the area, causing plenty of stress inside the Warriors 18.

"We were such a different team tonight compared to last week when we lost in OT at Saint Viator," began Bowles.

"We played to feet, with a lot of 1-2 (combinations) and so with so much speed and quickness tonight."

Carmel keeper Maddie Allen made the first of two important saves on the night when the senior saved Rabushka's attempt at 18 minutes.

The Corsairs saw a goal from Kassidy Brown pulled back when her swerving corner was hauled in by Emily Gilbert, and the force of a pair of Corsairs anxious to finish knocked the Warriors keeper over the endline.

Deerfield hunkered down with the hope of slowing a surging Corsairs' attack leading into the break, but Jung ended those hopes with a scorching blast from just outside the box that hit the post before exploding into the back of the net.

"I guess the ball just fell to me (from Lauren Bowles) - and I saw that I had a shot," said a humble Jung of her eventual game-winner.

While the second-half was a keenly-contested, quick-paced 40 minutes of soccer, most of it stayed between each 18-yard line.

The exception was a terrific sequence from the Corsairs who were in search of an all-important two-goal advantage.

Johnston had a go with back-to-back chances at 74 minutes, with the second just brushing the top of the woodwork, with McHugh nearly catching up to a well-paced ball from Lehman to the spot.

Moments later, Warriors defender Bridget O'Brien cleared a Bowles attempt off the endline with the Corsairs keeping up the pressure and not allowing their opponent any chance of all to draw even.

The Corsairs would lose midfielder Leah Einarsen at 18 minutes for the rest of the match, with Halloran saying afterwards the senior will have her knee looked at to determine her status for the playoffs.

"Last year our season ended much too abruptly in the postseason when we lost in shootout to Mundelein, a loss which was tough to take because we came in with a 16-3-0 record and the hope of playing Fremd, who would go on to a second-place finish at the state tournament," Halloran said.

"This team worked too hard during the off season and regular season to see its season end so early (last) year, so we've told the girls to play hard and enjoy this time of the year, and that to advance to play Fremd on Friday is what it is all about.

"At this time of the year, you want to play the best, regardless of the eventual outcome."

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