On Thursday, April 18, the varsity girls soccer team defeated their Lake Forest rivals with a final score of 6-0.
The visiting Scouts kicked off for the rainy game, but failed to retain possession.
The Wildcats put up strong runs, ultimately failing to capitalize, with senior goalie Kate Hopma (0) having to make a few saves on Lake Forest shots and corner kicks.
Senior Molly Koch (3) scored the only goal of the half, which came to a close just as the rain stopped.
Going into the second half, Head Coach Daniel DePaz knew something had to change in order to be more successful.
“In the first half we made mistakes,” Coach DePaz said. “They would counter us because we left gaps in the middle of the field. So in the second half, we closed that up a little bit, so they didn’t have many opportunities to counter us.”
This change in formation in the second half proved to be incredibly effective. While the field was still wet and slippery from the rain, the team was more connected and energy remained high.
Within the first few minutes, the Wildcats added to their score with a goal by senior Maddy Kopala (23), who scored on a free kick for sophomore Shea Krakowski (16), making the score 2-0.
“In the first half they were coming super hard at us and we needed to come out faster and stronger [in the second half],” Krakowski said. “Once we picked it up, we made them chase and we broke them down through the gaps in the middle of the field.”
Libertyville retained possession of the ball for the majority of the half, with Lake Forest failing to capitalize on their few chances. With under 20 minutes left in the game, the Wildcats scored another goal with a shot by junior Tess McGormley (5).
Now having a strong lead over the Scouts, the home team continued to keep their intensity and momentum. Koch made an impressive run down the line before passing the ball into the box to junior Lilly Frantz (15), whose shot straight into the back of the net made the score 4-0.
A few minutes later, on a corner kick by Krakowski, the ball was rebounded back and forth between the Lake Forest goalie and Libertyville as they surged forward to try and knock the ball in for another goal.
Senior Erin Kelly (8) scored off this play and while the goal was contested, it ultimately went to Libertyville
The final goal of the game was scored by sophomore Natalie Schmidt (9), to give Libertyville the 6-0 win.
With two conference wins under their belt, the team is optimistic for the rest of the season.
“I’m looking forward to all the opportunities that this team holds,” Krakowski said. “I think that in the future we are just going to keep getting better and better and our chemistry is just going to get stronger. I think we’re going to see the results that we want and hopefully make a longer run to state.”
