Velarde, Grant vex Vernon Hills

Andres Velarde’s “heady” play has been a big part of the recent success of Grant’s boys soccer team.

Velarde has knocked in 6 of his 13 goals this season on head balls. The junior midfielder had another one Tuesday night and also scored on a penalty, accounting for both of the Bulldogs’ goals in their 2-0 win over visiting Vernon Hills in the teams’ North Suburban Prairie Division match.

“I like going up for head balls. It’s my thing,” said Velarde, who stands 5 feet 11. “I’m just aggressive in the air and like to fly around.”

Grant (10-7, 4-1) was coming off a second-place finish in the Badger (Wis.) tournament. The Bulldogs are in the thick of the NSC Prairie race with Lakes (8-6-1, 4-0) and Round Lake (11-2-2, 3-1). Grant visits Lakes next Tuesday (6:15 p.m.) in its division finale.

“We’ve had some good results and good play as of late,” Grant coach Shane Rivette said. “We found a way to win against (Vernon Hills), but it wasn’t pretty. I thought we started out slow and our possession wasn’t there. Give (Vernon Hills) credit. On a wet surface, we couldn’t get anything going, but found a way to win.”

Grant got on the board in the 21st minute. Nick Kramer sent a corner kick into the middle of the box, and Velarde headed the ball off the head of a Vernon Hills defender and into the back of the net.

Velarde tallied again in the 33rd minute after Eric Villa was knocked down in the box.

Grant keeper Ryan Patterson made 5 stops and earned the clean sheet.

Vernon Hills (3-8-1, 1-2-1) came out with some aggressive play and had scoring chances.

“I thought we put together a good 20 minutes out there to start the game,” Vernon Hills coach Shannon Etnyre said. “We have some work to do. All season we’ve close but can’t get the ball in the back of the net. We just have to go back to practice and work on more finishing.”

Cougars Evan Borden and James Lee had quality scoring chances early on, but their shots were off-target. Vernon Hills sophomore midfielder Jeremy Cohen set up a number of opportunities.

“In the past, we were younger, and this year we’ve got a bunch of seniors,” Cohen said. “Our team has been progressing, but we’re just not getting the finishes.”