With two key seniors on the bench with leg injuries, Lake Forest High's girls soccer team needed its underclassmen to step up in Thursday's North Suburban Conference Championship Game against host Antioch at Lakes High.
Four talented freshmen came to the Scouts' rescue -- including reserve midfielder Morgan McConachie , who took a through-ball from freshman teammate Holly Wark and slotted it into the goal with two seconds left in the second overtime to give her team a hard-fought 1-0 victory.
It was McConachie's first goal of the season.
"Holly gave a good pass to Morgan and she was able to get the ball by Antioch's keeper ( Katie Budd ), who had really played a great game," said Lake Forest coach Ty Stuckslager, whose team captured the NSC Lake Division this season.
"Budd had done such a good job on cutting down our crosses throughout the game, so maybe she thought Morgan was going to cross it again, and that left a tiny opening for her to put it in on the near post.
"Those were two freshmen hooking up, and another freshman Haleigh McPeak made some nice runs on the left side for us up front."
Stuckslager also praised the work of freshman defender Katharine McCauley, who had the tough task of marking Antioch's amazing striker Suzie O'Connor throughout the contest.
The Scouts (13-3) were playing without senior defender Annie Haeger (injured ankle) and senior midfielder Hollis McPeak (torn ACL).
"It was a good pressure game against a good team," said Stuckslager. "It's the type of game which will get us ready for the state tournament."
Antioch coach Charlie Trout thought his NSC Prairie champions also played well in the contest.
"We knew we were going up against a quality team in Lake Forest," he said. "They are probably the best team we've played this season, and if we can play like this in the playoffs, we can have a good run."
Lake Forest dominated play for most of the regulation, out-shooting Antioch 8-2. But the Sequoits' defense -- led by Katrina Holm, Tamra Davila, Yasmine Bessette, Christine Kwilosz, Jenna Krumpos and freshman Lauren Tiffany , who was playing in her first varsity game -- bended but did not break.
On offense, the Sequoits tried to counter Lake Forest's top-notch passing game with long balls to O'Connor.
"Lake Forest does such a good job of controlling the ball that we had to try to take advantage of any opportunity they gave us," said Trout.
The tactic almost paid off the with just over two minutes remaining in the second 10-minute overtime period when a Lake Forest hand ball violation gave Antioch a free kick just outside the Scouts' box.
But a Finley Amato save on a hard-shot which sailed over the Lake Forest wall and into the outstretched hands of the screened Scouts' keeper kept the game scoreless until a few minutes later.
That's when McConachie knocked the ball off the hands of Budd into Antioch's goal with only a few ticks remaining in the second OT.
"It's really exciting to score my first goal with only two seconds left," said McConachie. "(Budd) made a good play on the ball and got her hands on it, so I didn't know if it was going in. I'm glad it did."
Both teams will begin regional play next week, as Lake Forest is the No. 2 seed in the Palatine Sectional and Antioch is the fourth seed in the Libertyville Sectional.
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