L-W North finally breaks through

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:14PM

It took 16 shots and nearly 76 minutes before Lincoln-Way North was able to put a shot in the back of the net, eventually defeating visiting Marian Catholic 1-0 on Thursday to move into the Lincoln-Way Central Invitational championship.

The Phoenix (8-3) - which went 3-0 in pool play, beating Eisenhower, Bloom Township and Marian Catholic (3-7-2) - will meet Sandburg in Saturday's title match.

"This team never gives up, they keep pushing hard and they keep putting pressure on," North coach Mike Murphy said of his charges.

"There were times in that first half where we were possessing the ball for five minutes, but soccer isn't a possession game, it's a scoring game."

The first half belonged to North, which put 12 shots on goal, seven of which required saves by Marian Catholic goalie Everett Senetar. The Spartans never threatened, barely ever getting past midfield, while putting zero shots on goal.

North's best opportunity came when Marc Hein headed a corner kick rebound from point-blank range toward an open net, only to see the ball hit the crossbar. Chris Harvey the booted the rebound over the goal. Even though the Phoenix outshot the Spartans 12-0, the score was 0-0 at intermission.

"I told the team at half they were playing great soccer and something would eventually happen," Murphy said.

Marian Catholic tightened up in the second half, allowing just four shots on goal.

After nearly 36 minutes had gone by in the second half, North midfielder Kyle Purtell found Harvey 20 yards out from the goal. From there, Harvey put the ball in the net with 4:14 left in the match.

"I just looked up and saw the goalie was near post, so I put it far post," Harvey said. "I think I made up for the shot in the first half."

North's 8-3 record to date is a bit of a surprise, even to its coach.

"I told a newspaper we would be happy to be .500, and after the kids saw that they told me we'd be way better," Murphy said. "I told them we lost nine starters from last year and I didn't know what to expect, so prove me wrong. They keep proving me wrong."

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