Late first-half goal sends St. Viator past Deerfield

No. 3 St. Viator 1, No. 2 Deerfield 0

THE SKINNY

A late first-half goal wound up being the difference in No. 3 St. Viator’s 1-0 win over No. 2 Deerfield in Wednesday’s Class 2A girls soccer Grayslake North Sectional semifinal.

TURNING POINT

Until the final minute of the first half, St. Viator (13-6-3) and Deerfield (12-10-3) were locked in a cautious field position battle. But with 39.5 seconds to go before intermission, Lions junior midfielder Kayne Stanley ripped home a 40-foot blast that sailed into the upper-left part of the net. It was the game’s lone tally.

THE STARS

Though Stanley had the game-winner, junior defender Emma Henry and sophomore Lauren Kohn could also be considered for this honor for St. Viator, due to their consistent two-way play throughout. Deerfield goalie Sam Soloway, meanwhile, made several stellar saves in her final high school game.

BY THE NUMBERS

After starting the year 4-7-1, Deerfield finished 8-3-2 in its final 13 games. St. Viator will face Lake Forest for the sectional title Friday at 6:30 p.m., after the Scouts downed Prairie Ridge 2-0 in the evening’s earlier semifinal.

QUOTABLE

“I though we did a nice job of winning most of the 50-50 balls, but the problem is once we did that, we’d give them the ball right back. We’re gonna have to do better if we want to beat Lake Forest on Friday.” — St. Viator coach Mike Taylor

“I’m definitely proud of how we played tonight. Our girls battled through a lot of things that didn’t go their way this whole season. We played a really tough schedule. We had some things that didn’t go our way, some injuries. Despite that adversity, they responded.” — Deerfield coach Rich Grady