Boys soccer: A comeback thriller in favor of Vernon Hills
Vernon Hills' boys soccer team came back from a late one-goal deficit to edge Niles North 2-1 in a Central Suburban League crossover Thursday night.
Matt Gramins scored both goals for Vernon Hills (9-7). Brandon Kim and Stephen Auw had assists, and keeper Brennan Reback made 6 saves.
"This was one of the best wins all season for us because we had to battle back from being down 1-0 late in the second half," Cougars coach Mike McCaulou said. "The boys know what we are capable of, and tonight we showed what we can do when we play as a unit and believe in ourselves. We showed great resilience and determination to get a great result tonight, and we are moving in the right direction to prepare for the postseason."
Grayslake Central 2, Grayslake North 1 (PKs): The visiting Rams outscored the Knights 5-4 in penalty kicks, as David Young made 2 saves.
Bryan Wehde buried the winning PK in the Northern Lake County Conference match, and Nick Walker scored his ninth goal of the season in regulation play for Grayslake Central (10-5-1, 4-2).
"It's never easy playing Grayslake North, especially on their home field," Rams coach Tom Hamilton said. "Credit to them. They applied intense pressure throughout and took us out of our game. To relieve the pressure, we started playing more directly than suits our skill set, but we ended up creating some quality chances when we were keeping it simple. Both teams' keepers were outstanding tonight, and David in particular came up huge when we needed him. Our boys showed some grit today, and we're happy with the result, but we know we still have work to do to get ready for playoffs."
Libertyville 4, Zion-Benton 0: Ryan Wittenbrink had a goal and 2 assists for the Wildcats in their North Suburban Conference shutout.
Riley Hoff, Evan Rasmussen and Kenny Gallegher also scored for Libertyville. Rasmussen had an assist, as well. Thomas Pearson (2 saves) and Liam Hettinger (3 saves) shared the shutout in net.
Warren 1, Stevenson 0: Kevin Penarrieta scored in the second half off an assist from Ruben Delgadillo, as the Blue Devils won their North Suburban finale.
Jeffery Pioquinto notched the shutout for Warren (14-3-2, 4-2-1).
Stevenson fell to 7-5-2 and 3-3.
Mundelein 1, Lake Zurich 0: Dominic Cristino knocked in a second-half penalty kick, and Eric Muniz earned the clean sheet with 3 saves for the Mustangs in the North Suburban contest.
Antioch 6, North Chicago 3: Cody Matonik scored twice for the Sequoits in the Northern Lake County game.
The score at halftime was 1-1.
"We pressed most of the first half and created chance after chance but struggled to put our chances in the back of the net, save one," Antioch assistant coach Matt Bohmann said. "We came out strong again in the second half and began to finish the chances we were creating."
Bart Krumpos converted a penalty kick for the Sequoits (7-10-2, 2-3), who also got goals from Alex Keeler, Zach Espitia and Gabe Tijerina. Tommy Cerney had 2 assists, and Aleksei Kuvshinikov and Noah Boehm also tallied assists.
Wauconda 1, Grant 0: A first-half goal held up for Wauconda in the Northern Lake County match.
Wauconda improved to 5-11-2 and 2-3, while Grant fell to 3-11 and 1-4.