Lake Forest seeks 4th
North Suburban Conference title
Lakes stands in the way Thursday night
By Rusty Silber
The table is set for the North Suburban Conference championship game.
It's a battle pitting the best in the Lake Division, Lake Forest, against the top team in the Prairie Division, Lakes.
The match will take place at 6:15 p.m. Thursday at Lake Forest.
Lake Forest (10-4-2) made its way to the title game with a conference mark of 4-1-1. The record tied Lake Zurich (13-3-2), but the Scouts took the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-0 win against the Bears. Lake Forest makes its first championsip game appearance since 2011.
Lake Zurich won the NSC Championship the previous three years.
The Scouts have won three championships in four attempts.
"It's great to be there," Lake Forest coach Ty Stuckslager said. "We're being in one of the tougher divisions in the Chicagoland area. Anybody can beat anyone on any given day. It's just a great honor to keep it going."
The Scouts endured a tough regular season schedule that included the PepsiCo Showdown and the ultra-competitive North Suburban slate. Lake Forest tied Mundelein, then lost to Warren on a pair goals in the last 11 minutes including the game-winner with 3.8 seconds remaining. But the Scouts responded with a 2-1 victory on the road at Libertyville. Then they defeated Zion-Benton and followed up with a 1-0 victory over Stevenson on Tuesday in Lake Forest.
"A little resilience to get there," Stuckslager said. "It was a beautiful thing of confidence to rebound. We were able to throw things around with some beautiful victories. Lake Zurich had won three in a row until they tied Mundelein (Tuesday night). Right now, we really want to win a conference championship."
On the flip side, Lakes (11-3-2) won the Prairie Division for the second-straight year with a 5-0-1 mark this spring. The Eagles have gone unbeaten on their side over the past two years at 11-0-1. They lost to Lake Zurich in last year's title game.
This will be the third time for Lakes to appear in the North Surburban championship. The Eagles 0-3 mark includes two losses to Lake Zurich and one to to Stevenson.
"Our players are on guard and that's how we've played on our schedule," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "We've played good teams and have defended well in those games."
Kullby is no stranger to Lake Forest. He coached at the school before he took the head job at Lakes, where he's been for the last 11 years.
"I'm familiar with what they have," Kullby said. "Our team has to match up with them. (Lake Forest) is very good on corner kicks, and Paige Bourne can make things happen with the ball. We just have to have the run of play and play with more confidence."
The Eagles are coming off their best half of the season. They scored four goals after intermission in a 4-0 shutout win against district rival Antioch on Tuesday that clinched the Prairie Division title.
Lakes hopes to reverse its fortunes from a nonconference game against Lake Forest last week, when the Eagles lost 4-0.
Lake Forest still has its memories of the Class 2A state championship run of last year in their minds. But they still have some work to do against Lakes on THursday.
"We need to have energy," Stuckslager said. "We also need discipline. We need to play better with a certain joy and not have pressure but to enjoy the game. In our last game, Lakes played much better in the second half. They're always organized, well coached, and it might come down to set pieces."
From a history standpoint, Lakes faces an uphill battle. Since the North Suburban split into two divisions in 2000, only one Prairie Division school has won the championship (Vernon Hills over Stevenson).
North Suburban Conference title
Lakes stands in the way Thursday night
By Rusty Silber
The table is set for the North Suburban Conference championship game.
It's a battle pitting the best in the Lake Division, Lake Forest, against the top team in the Prairie Division, Lakes.
The match will take place at 6:15 p.m. Thursday at Lake Forest.
Lake Forest (10-4-2) made its way to the title game with a conference mark of 4-1-1. The record tied Lake Zurich (13-3-2), but the Scouts took the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-0 win against the Bears. Lake Forest makes its first championsip game appearance since 2011.
Lake Zurich won the NSC Championship the previous three years.
The Scouts have won three championships in four attempts.
"It's great to be there," Lake Forest coach Ty Stuckslager said. "We're being in one of the tougher divisions in the Chicagoland area. Anybody can beat anyone on any given day. It's just a great honor to keep it going."
The Scouts endured a tough regular season schedule that included the PepsiCo Showdown and the ultra-competitive North Suburban slate. Lake Forest tied Mundelein, then lost to Warren on a pair goals in the last 11 minutes including the game-winner with 3.8 seconds remaining. But the Scouts responded with a 2-1 victory on the road at Libertyville. Then they defeated Zion-Benton and followed up with a 1-0 victory over Stevenson on Tuesday in Lake Forest.
"A little resilience to get there," Stuckslager said. "It was a beautiful thing of confidence to rebound. We were able to throw things around with some beautiful victories. Lake Zurich had won three in a row until they tied Mundelein (Tuesday night). Right now, we really want to win a conference championship."
On the flip side, Lakes (11-3-2) won the Prairie Division for the second-straight year with a 5-0-1 mark this spring. The Eagles have gone unbeaten on their side over the past two years at 11-0-1. They lost to Lake Zurich in last year's title game.
This will be the third time for Lakes to appear in the North Surburban championship. The Eagles 0-3 mark includes two losses to Lake Zurich and one to to Stevenson.
"Our players are on guard and that's how we've played on our schedule," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "We've played good teams and have defended well in those games."
Kullby is no stranger to Lake Forest. He coached at the school before he took the head job at Lakes, where he's been for the last 11 years.
"I'm familiar with what they have," Kullby said. "Our team has to match up with them. (Lake Forest) is very good on corner kicks, and Paige Bourne can make things happen with the ball. We just have to have the run of play and play with more confidence."
The Eagles are coming off their best half of the season. They scored four goals after intermission in a 4-0 shutout win against district rival Antioch on Tuesday that clinched the Prairie Division title.
Lakes hopes to reverse its fortunes from a nonconference game against Lake Forest last week, when the Eagles lost 4-0.
Lake Forest still has its memories of the Class 2A state championship run of last year in their minds. But they still have some work to do against Lakes on THursday.
"We need to have energy," Stuckslager said. "We also need discipline. We need to play better with a certain joy and not have pressure but to enjoy the game. In our last game, Lakes played much better in the second half. They're always organized, well coached, and it might come down to set pieces."
From a history standpoint, Lakes faces an uphill battle. Since the North Suburban split into two divisions in 2000, only one Prairie Division school has won the championship (Vernon Hills over Stevenson).