Gasecki scores 2 in semifinal win

It's on to the championship game.

The Warren soccer team claimed a 4-1 win over Grant in the semifinal round of the Warren Regional on Tuesday.

Warren got on the board early, as Oskar Gasecki struck twice within the first eight minutes.

Brandon Brown and Ruben Gaytan also scored for No. 3 seed Warren, which advanced to Saturday's regional final (at 11 a.m.). The Devils will play either Lake Forest or Zion-Benton.

The No. 1 seeded Corsairs (15-5-2) opened Carmel Regional play on Tuesday with a 3-0 victory over No. 16 Antioch.

Carmel led 1-0 at the break after John Zeffery put them ahead with a goal midway through the first half. Edwin Lagunas doubled the advantage with 25 minutes remaining and Colin O'Malley wrapped up the scoring with 9 minutes left.

"We played a little disconnected and they did some things to frustrate us," Carmel head coach John Halloran said. "They did a nice job of keeping tight on our attackers and not giving a lot of space. The things they did give us, we didn't take advantage of real well."

The Corsairs advanced to Saturday's regional final (at 1 p.m.), where they will meet the Wauconda/Waukegan winner.

Carmel dropped a 2-1 decision to St. Viator in the ESCC decider last Thursday. The Lions scored twice before O'Malley pulled a goal back in the 65th minute. Zeffery had the assist.

"It was disappointing. We've always had a big rivalry with St. Viator," Halloran said. "We owned 60 percent of the possession in that game, but didn't create a huge number of opportunities. I give them credit. They had three or four clear chances and put two away. We didn't do the same and their defense and keeper had a nice game."

A six-championship day sparked the Warren High School swim team to a championship in Saturday's Blue Devil Invitational.

Diver Anne Wright began the title parade by scoring 303.40 points. The other Devils to grab individual crowns were Kristen O'Connor (100 free, 57.82), Lauren Alexander (500 free, 5:40.21) and Ally Calewarts (100 backstroke, 1:02.89).

Warren also ruled the 200 and 400 free relays. The 200 team of O'Connor, Rita Nelson, Calewarts and Tianna Peters touched first in 1:47.24, while the 400 foursome of O'Connor, Nelson, Laura Chou and Calewarts reached the wall first in 3:54.17.

The Devils scored 297 points to hold off Vernon Hills (232) in this 7-team meet.

The Blue Devils made a statement on Tuesday night by hammering Lakes 25-13, 25-12. Warren will now head for the Crosstown Classic this weekend at Libertyville and Vernon Hills.