Girls soccer: Paez helps Grayslake North stop Grayslake Central
Sydney Paez scored a goal in each half, and Grayslake North's girls soccer team beat visiting Grayslake Central 3-1 in a Fox Valley Conference Fox Division opener on Thursday night.
"There is never an easy game against our crosstown rival, and tonight was no different from the norm," coach Adam DeCaluwe said after his Knights improved to 4-2-1. "Central did a good job of getting the ball forward early on in the first half, as they put us under some decent pressure in our defensive third."
Grayslake Central (2-3-3) struck first with 18 minutes to go in the half on a goal by Jordan Gosell.
"That goal seemed to wake us up a bit," DeCaluwe said. "We started to apply defensive pressure quicker, and when we won the ball, we looked to play with more purpose."
Just six minutes after the Rams scored, the Knights answered. Off a corner kick, Morgan Lyon played a ball into the box and fellow junior Paez headed it into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1 going into halftime.
"Our girls really showed a lot of character and heart in the second half," DeCaluwe said. "They committed to working as a unit on both sides of the ball, applying pressure on the ball as high up the field as we could, and getting forward in our attack with a bit more speed and desire.":
Three minutes into the second half, Paez scored the go-ahead goal after she received a pass from senior Kelly O'Brien. Sophomore Maddie Wilkinson played a throughball that sophomore Lauren Davis ran onto and slotted past the keeper for the final goal.
Antioch 5, Round Lake 0: Courtney Coleman scored 3 goals for the Sequoits in the North Suburban Prairie game.
Rachel Moore and Megan Helgesen also scored, as Antioch (3-3-2, 1-1-0) won its third game in a row. Karly Monaco had 2 assists, and Courtney Monaco had an assist as well.
Helgesen's goal was off a volley from just inside the 18. Monica Wilhelm made 2 saves in recording her third consecutive shutout.
Coleman's hat trick gave her 9 goals on the season.
Wauconda 8, North Chicago 0: Kayla Wisniewski scored her seventh and eighth goals of the season, as the host Bulldogs cruised in North Suburban Prairie action.
Erica Miller and Haley Meyer each had a goal and an assist for Wauconda (5-0-2, 1-0-1). Aimee Berg, Briana Vargas and freshmen Abigail McHugh and Jenae Tarakanov also scored. Rachel DeNovo and Ally Magiera each had 2 assists, while Magiera also earned the shutout in net.
Lyons 1, Warren 0: Goalie Skylar Reilly had 5 saves for the Blue Devils (6-3-1) in their loss.
Lake Zurich 6, Lake Forest 5: Emily Udelhoven had 2 goals and an assist, Kristin Brousseau scored twice, and Becca Kubin added a goal and 2 assists for the Bears.
The PepsiCo Showdown match counted as a North Suburban Lake result.
Jasmine Mirabelli also scored for Lake Zurich (5-2). Abby Mulderink and Samantha Hartman contributed assists.
Vernon Hills 2, Streamwood 1: Alex Ludolp scored both goals for the Cougars in the PepsiCo Showdown match.
Maddie Farag and Katie Burrows had assists for Vernon Hills.
Libertyville 5, Highland Park 0: In a consolation match of the PepsiCo Showdown, the host Wildcats got a pair of goals from Tayclor Underwood.
Libertyville (4-3) recovered from a loss earlier in the week. Annie Thompson, Natalie Jaroch and Molly Hazen had the other goals. Jordan Hertzier and Ali Watson combined for a clean sheet.