Vernon Hills stuns Grayslake Central

Vernon Hills' soccer girls didn't exactly shock the world Saturday, but what they did probably raised some eyebrows.

The Cougars captured the Class 2A Grayslake Central regional championship by stunning the host Rams 2-0.

"At the beginning of the season, honestly, nobody would have expected us to win a (regional championship)," Cougars senior forward Jessica Feece said.

"We were shaky at the beginning and we didn't know where people belonged on the field. We just found our stride. Everything fell into place, and it was perfect timing."

Vernon Hills (8-9-2), which was the No. 3 seed in the regional, knocked off No. 2 Grayslake North in the semifinals before ousting the top-seeded Rams to advance to Tuesday's 6 p.m. sectional semifinal at Lakes against St. Viator (15-8-5).

Vernon Hills started the season without some injured players and were winless after six games (0-5-1). The Cougars didn't score a goal until losing to St. Viator 4-1 in their sixth game.

Since then, however, the Cougars have gone 8-4-1.

"Our goal was to keep improving and get our players back," coach Vince DeLuca said. "We did have this (a regional title) in mind, but I didn't know if we could get it or not.

"We do like to start the year 0-and-something every year," DeLuca joked.

Against Grayslake Central (13-8), Vernon Hills scored first for the second straight game and wound up tallying both of its goals in the opening half.

"We wanted to dictate the play," DeLuca said. "We didn't want (Grayslake Central) to come at us. We talked about trying to get the first goal and going from there.

"In both (regional) games we came out strong and controlled the tempo in the first half. It's a simple team and we play very simple. We do the things we need to do to win."

Alex Goldstein got the first goal in the third minute off a corner kick that bounced off a defender and into the goal.

"We practice a lot of crosses before the game," Goldstein said. "I usually aim for the top of the box and hope someone is there for it."

Goldstein's cross led to the second goal. Feece headed in her 12th of the season in the 26th minute.

"Alex gave me an awesome cross," Feece said of her first-ever goal on a header. "I just put a head on it and didn't expect to go in. I really didn't hit it that hard."

Cougars keeper Iris Ostrovsky made 8 saves and recorded her 10th clean sheet.

Grayslake Central keeper Kat Dickson, who set a school mark with 11 shutouts, made 9 saves, including one on a penalty kick.

"We had a great season and give credit to Vernon Hills," said Grayslake coach Mike McCaulou, whose team set a record for wins in a season. "We struggled all year with services. Both goals were like that, and we struggled with balls out of the air. We didn't get much luck offensively. We hit the crossbar and balls didn't bounce our way. Vernon Hills put the pressure on and got rewarded for their work."