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Sports

Girls Soccer: Spartans Can't Get by Lake Forest

Glenbrook North fell 1-0 to the Scouts in a sectional semifinal.

The unfortunate part about playoff soccer is that one moment can end a season so abruptly.

made one mistake against in the sectional semifinal at and that was all it took. The Spartans couldn’t recover from an early goal and fell to the Scouts 1-0 on Tuesday.

GBN topped the school record for wins, set last year, with 19, and won the program’s second regional title. Despite accomplishing all that, the team was still emotional after the loss.

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“We’re really close as a team and so doing this is pretty hard the way we ended,” senior Stephanie Murthey said. “Just getting this far in the season is great. I’m just happy we set the school record for 19 wins, but I don’t want it to be over yet.”

No. 2 seed Lake Forest (17-4-4) scored in the 11th minute when a cross came through the penalty box and goalkeeper Katherine Weber (4 saves) was unable to control it. Haleigh McPeek controlled the ball and scored into an open net.

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The No. 3 seed Spartans (19-5-2) were under a lot of pressure in the first 20 minutes of the match. They picked up their play down the stretch, but couldn’t put one past Lake Forest ‘keeper Liz Clark (4 saves).

“I think a lot of our girls hadn’t been in this situation before and they were nervous and it showed in the first 20 minutes of the game,” GBN coach Paul Vignocchi said. “We started to settle down. We started to play our game and it showed that we can play with teams that are in the top of the state.”

Ashley Kamin had North’s best chance a few minutes after the hour mark when she entered the box from the right side and put a shot on goal right into the hands of Clark. The Spartans had a few more chances in the final ten minutes, but couldn’t break down the Lake Forest defense.

Most of the match was played in the middle of the field thanks to good play from both defenses. After giving up the goal Murthey, Jen Peterson, Casey Kurz and Sia Dagrizikos played well in defense to keep it a one goal game.

Six seniors, Murthey, Kamin, Kurz, Peterson, Dayna Abramson and Melissa Sawyer, will leave the program, but they helped take it to new heights with two conference titles and the regional victory. Murthey said what she will remember most of her time in the program is bonding with her teammates and the effort they put in to win.

“The past few years has been awesome, playing with my teammates and making that bond with everybody and our coaches,” she said. “I think the main thing about our team is the way we dig deep and push ourselves.”

This was Vignocchi’s last year as girls soccer coach. He will be an assistant athletic director next year.

“I can’t say how much of a pleasure it’s been to coach girls for the last five years,” he said. “I never thought I’d ever coach girls and when I started getting into it I enjoyed it. Since this is my last year I’m going to miss it because they really do want to learn the game of soccer and want to work hard for it.

“I’m just proud of where the program’s at. I know whoever takes over this program, they’re going to do a great job. I want to thank all the girls I’ve had the pleasure of coaching because they have worked extremely hard for me.”

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