Ela Soccer Club Girls Team Big Winners in Tournament

Congratulations to the Ela Soccer Clubs’ Girls Under 12 Red Team, who won the Puma Cup Championship on April 18.  The  tournament was played at Sportscore I, in Rockford, where many top teams were represented in the Under 12 Girls Super Group bracket from the Soccer Midwest Region 2, playing in the 11 v 11 formation.

The 11 v 11 was an entirely new setup for this team. In fact, the tournament contests were the first official games they played using this formation, making their cup-copping victory that much more impressive.

The team’s defense played incredibly tough throughout the tournament, giving up not a single goal. They defeated the Fox Valley Strikers, 2-0 and the SC Waukesha, Wisconsin Blue Bulldogs, 1-0 while playing the Burnsville Fire Fuego of Minnesota to a scoreless tie.

Advancing to the semi-final competition,  they defeated the Campton United Navy in a 1-0 nail-biter before knocking off the Dakota Revolution Riptide of Minnesota--the number one-ranked team in their state--by the same score in the final.

What made the team’s stellar performance over the weekend even more exceptional were the playing conditions that they had to endure, including a triple-whammy of rain, sleet and snow.

It should be noted that the Lake Zurich High School girls’ softball team thumped Libertyville in a home-and-home series against their ultra-rivals prior to their 5-2 win against Antioch April 14.

The Bears hosted the Wildcats on April 12 and shut them out, 10-0. They scored two runs in the first inning and another pair in the third for a 4-0 lead. They widened their lead to 7-0 after four innings before the Wildcats succumbed to the slaughter rule in the sixth when the Bears added three more runs, completing the 10-0 route.

Kasey Roe had a big game on offense with 5 RBI while going 2-for-3. Kelly Neises also paced the offense, going 3-for-4 with 3 runs and 3 steals and an RBI. Maria Schroeder went 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, 4 runs, a steal and an RBI.

Pitcher Megan Mattera pitched a complete-game shutout, including four strikeouts and no walks. She yielded just three hits while also hitting a batter, allowing a total of just four runners. She also chipped in on offense, going 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

The next day in Libertyville, the Bears, down 2-1, scored a whopping 10 runs in the top of the fourth inning to take an 11-2 lead. The Wildcats narrowed the gap to 11-6 when they scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bears responded with a run in the sixth and seventh innings for a 13-6 victory.

Tab Bohac relieved Mattera after three innings to earn the win. Bohac allowed four runs, three hits and a walk in four innings of work. Only two of the four runs she gave up were earned.

Carlee Parsons was the Bears number one offensive star, going 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and 3 steals. Right behind her was Alli McGinnis, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a steal. Schroeder contributed with 3 runs and 3 steals while going 2-for-5.

The Bears most recent game was a 7-2 win over Prospect last Friday.

The Lake Zurich boys tennis team had back-to-back 5-2 wins the other week, against Lakes and Mundelein respectively. Mike Volk won 6-1, 6-3 at number 1 singles, and Kevin Croneigh was a 6-0, 6-1 victor.

In doubles play, the Bears’ Austin Reitsch and Dietrich Ihm won 6-1, 6-0 at number 1; Matt Caster and Steve Brown prevailed 6-0, 6-3 at number 2; and Rob Madsen and Steve Pratscher won 6-3, 6-1 at number 3.

Against Mundelein, Chandler Croneigh was a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victor at number 2 singles, and Lake Zurich swept all four doubles matches. Reitsch and Ihm won 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 at number 1; number 2 Caster and Brown were 6-0, 6-2 winners, Madsen and Pratscher were victorious, 6-4 and 6-3 at number 3; and Kevin Croneigh and Andrew Guild were winners in close 7-5, 7-5 matches.

The Bears lacrosse team suffered a tough 4-3 loss in overtime to host Highland Park on Friday, April 15. Thomas Logan scored two goals for Lake Zurich and  Ryan Faetz had one. Ross Williams had an assist, while Markus Hofer finished with five saves.

Anthony Costanzo, a 2006 Lake Zurich High School graduate, is projected to be a first-round draft choice in this Thursday’s NFL draft. If so, the offensive lineman, a four-year starter at Boston College, will become the first-ever first-rounder from Lake County.

Costanzo’s parents own Oregano’s Italian restaurant in Hawthorn Woods; his 6-foot-seven, 311 pound frame is a testament to his mother’s good cooking. Costanzo plans on celebrating with family and friends on draft night. By the way, the Chicago Bears are definitely in need of offensive line help. If that were to happen, Costanzo would also become the first-ever Lake Zurich Bear to become a Chicago Bear.

Five out of the last six Lake Zurich Bears baseball games have been postponed, an indication of the exceptionally rainy weather this spring. Hopefully, things will go more smoothly for the duration of the season. If not, the Bears may find their schedule overlapping with football.