LAKE ZURICH -- Libertyville took control of the North Suburban Conference title race after its hard-fought 1-0 victory over its host Thursday night at Mel Eide Field 

Shea Krakowski scored the game-winner just minutes into the second half when she smashed home a penalty kick. The opportunity was created when teammate Molly Koch raced past her defender and was hauled down in the Lake Zurich box.

"Maddy (Kopola) gave me just a great ball from out of the back," recounted Koch. “I kept my eyes on the ball, which appeared to roll over the foot of one of their centerbacks. From there it was all about keeping the ball under control before getting fouled.”

The Wildcats (6-3-1) are in the catbird’s seat for a second-consecutive league title after they improved to 4-0-0 after an 8-0 win Friday at Waukegan. That says plenty about manager Daniel DePaz's club, which lost some ultra-quality talent, including a trio of what seemed to be near-impossible-to-replace players from the Class 3A third place team of a year ago.

"The loss of Pru (Babet), Jenna (Krakowski) and Ellie Rebman was big. It was three big losses all across the lines," began Koch.

"They were huge leaders and obviously great players. So, I wasn't really surprised that we began the season a little slow, but I feel like it's starting to come together for all of us right now."

The one-goal victory was not an easy one for the Wildcats who were playing a club which featured a high-octane attack led by the quartet of Lauren Bailey, Sydney Arendarczyk, Cammy Niepomnik and freshmen Reilly Novak. The group accounted for 35 of the 49 goals the Bears have claimed this spring.

"When we score, we can score in bunches, but of late, we've had our trouble finishing the chances we create," said Bears manager Mike Castronova, now in his 13th year in charge.

"This is the type of game we expected with Libertyville. We did well defending and creating chances, but we just were not as sharp as we needed to be in the final third. That PK called was the correct call, and it decided the game."

The 80-minute contest had plenty of ebbs and flows. The sides matched each other for long periods at time. Libertyville survived a spell of first half pressure in order to keep things goal-less at the break.

"We all have friends from club on both teams, so we kind of know what each team will do. I thought we defended really well when we had to tonight," said Koch.

Wildcats keepers Kate Hopma and Brianna Valdez did well to manage things with the support of their backline, which kept quality chances on frame to a minimum.

The Libertyville attack was at its most effective when the ball was on the foot of its leading-scorer, sophomore Shea Krakowski. She ran the show in the middle of the park with pace, purpose and a strong work-rate.

After the Krakowski goal, the game opened up as expected. 

Lake Zurich played a dangerous ball through the six, but the nice build-up from Ella Knight through Sawyer Klein and Novak did not find a Bears player at the back post.

Libertyville’s Gianna Amidei nearly beat Bears keeper Erin Bohn to a 50/50 ball in the 66th minute. On the other end, Libertyville’s Valdez held on to a wicked free kick blast from Arendarczyk.

Both clubs remain in league play for their next match Tuesday. Lake Zurich (10-2-3, 1-1-2) moves on to meet Lake Forest. Libertyville can further solidify its top spot when it hosts Mundelein.