For starters, Lakes looks like a winner
Lakes' boys soccer team looked impressive on its home field.
The third-seeded Eagles shut out No. 14 Yorkville 3-0 in a Class 2A regional semifinal in Lake Villa on Tuesday.
Lakes (10-6-6), which secured a berth in Friday's 4:30 p.m. regional final, got the ball rolling in the 11th minute off a set piece. Steve Korosis sent a free kick into the box, where Joel DeGrave headed the ball past keeper Erik Nuevo into the net for his seventh goal of the season.
"Steve placed a nice ball to the middle," DeGrave said. "The ball was up in the air and out of the goalie's reach and in reach for me. I was just a little higher than the goalie."
Lakes didn't score again until the second half.
Ben Pierce finished in the 43rd minute after taking a David Schau cross. Four minutes later, Jonathan Stanley scored off Korosis' second assist of the day.
"We did good things to generate opportunities at their goal, whether it was set pieces or other things," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "I'm not totally happy with the way we played, but under the circumstances (wet, soft field), we did well and defended. (Yorkville) didn't get many shots."
Ben Goforth earned his eighth shutout in goal, as he made 5 stops for the Eagles.
"Lakes was very good," said Yorkville coach Mike Jacobs, whose team ended 6-11-2. "Kullby's one of the most intelligent coaches in the state. He's taken a program fairly new and turned it around."
Grayslake North 3 Prairie Ridge 0: The 11th-seeded Knights surprised the sixth-seeded Wolves, winning 3-0 in the teams' Class 2A regional semifinal at Lakes.
Grayslake North (6-14) had lost twice to Prairie Ridge (12-7-3) in Fox Valley Conference Fox Division action.
"Both times we weren't outplayed; we were just outscored," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "We made some adjustments, moving Brian (Stout) into the midfield and allowing him to attack more. It paid off for us. He will run through a brick wall."
Stout broke through seven minutes into the game, heading home a Freddy Rosas pass off a dead ball. It was the senior's ninth goal of the season.
"I just attacked the ball and went for it before the goalie (Cole Geissell) got there," Stout said. "I wanted to get the team going and get the passion going."
Arnaud Bataille made it 2-0 with 12 minutes gone in the second half. The freshman corralled Rosas' throw-in, made a move and fired a shot that deflected off a defender and past Geissell.
Rosas added another insurance goal, with Stout assisting, two minutes later.
Grayslake North's Richard Klarck made 4 saves in notching the shutout. He had help from his defenders, including brothers Andrew and Micheal Rohrer, Austin Coolidge and Ibra Perez-Vera.
"Grayslake North just beat us," Prairie Ridge coach David O'Leary said. "We came in overconfident because we beat them twice. It's hard to beat anybody three times and the first goal made the difference."