Neat trick for Villwock, Grayslake North
Sammie Villwock scored a hat trick, and then Grayslake North's girls soccer team held on to defeat upset-minded Antioch 3-2 in the Class 2A Grayslake North regional final Friday night.
No. 2 Grayslake North (19-3-2) earned a berth in Wednesday's 7 p.m. St. Viator sectional semifinals and will play the winner of today's game between Deerfield and St. Viator.
"We knew today would be a tough game, against a quality opponent in Antioch," Knights coach Adam DeCaluwe said of the 10th-seeded Sequoits. "They work hard, they do not give up, and they put teams under pressure for the entire 80 minutes."
Villwock opened the scoring in the first half. Kelley O'Brien sent a cross to Villwock, whose header was denied by Antioch's keeper. But Villwock pounced on the rebound and finished the scoring chance.
"In the second half, we wanted to play our game and not sick back trying to defend the lead," DeCaluwe said. "We got forward as much as we could and we capitalized on a couple of really good goal-scoring chances."
Villwock scored her second goal six minutes into the second half, after Morgan Lyon played a ball into the box. Villwock made it 3-0 with 20 minutes left after receiving a through ball from Corryn Smith.
Antioch responded with a pair of goals, but the Sequoits ran out of times chasing the equalizer.
"We may have sat back a bit too much once we got the three-goal lead," DeCaluwe said.
Grayslake North keeper Megan Davis made 2 saves.
Lake Forest 3, Lakes 0: At Lake Forest, the fourth-seeded Scouts won their own Class 2A regional final.
Lake Forest will play top-seeded Carmel in the St. Viator sectional semifinals at 5 p.m. Wednesday. No. 5 Lakes finished 13-5-3.
Cary-Grove 6, Grant 0: At Cary-Grove, the host Trojans built a 2-0 lead by halftime en route to winning their own Class 3A regional final.
The top seed got 2 goals and an assist from Genna Sobieszcyk and a goal and 3 assists from Frankie Frericks in ending the Bulldogs' season. Cary-Grove will face South Elgin in the Huntley sectional semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday.