Grayslake Central blanks Grant

Emily Schrader has no problem dishing out assists for Grayslake Central’s girls soccer team.

Schrader had a half dozen of them in the Rams’ three tournament games and has seven in five contests this season.

She picked up another assist Wednesday, and Skyler Jessop scored twice, as Grayslake Central shut out Grant 3-0 to win its own invite for the third year in a row.

“It’s always fun scoring, but assists are good,” said Schrader, who scored her only goal Tuesday.

“It starts in the center midfield, where the team plays the ball into me. It’s mostly through balls and then I can take it to the end line and send it back to the middle. Speed helps and I can take people on.”

Grayslake Central went 3-0 in the tournament, outscoring its three opponents 17-0.

“It’s a nice start to the season,” said Grayslake Central coach Mike McCaulou, whose team is 5-0 and hasn’t allowed a goal.

“Basically, it’s a preseason tournament. It’s good for the girls to create chances and knock the ball around. The best thing is that we haven’t given up a goal in five games and that’s impressive no matter who you play.”

Jessop scored both of her goals in the first half, giving her five in the invite and six on season.

Schrader set up Jessop with one of her crosses in the fifth minute.

Jessop scored again in the 22nd minute, when Alex Wilson sent a cross back to the middle. Allie Black dummied the ball, letting it roll to the feet of Jessop.

The Rams picked up their third goal in the final minute. Jocelyn Gaughran scored off an assist from Emma Shepard.

Kat Dickson earned her fifth straight shutout, making 1 save.

Grant (3-4, 2-1) couldn’t handle Grayslake Central in the first half but made it a better game by the second half.

“Give credit to Grayslake Central. They’re a good team,” Grant coach Michael Kennedy said. “The first goal should not have happened, but their girls did a good job to follow it up.

“We did a good job making adjustments in the second half. After we did that, it looked like a better soccer game than the first half. Right now, we’re building out of the back with Kassie Stimpson, and that’s one of our strengths. Most of our goals will come off dead balls and set plays.”

Waukegan 2, Round Lake 0: In the first game at Grayslake Central, the Bulldogs won the battle for third place.

Round Lake lost all three of its games in the tournament and dropped to 0-5.

Waukegan improved to 2-6, going 1-2 in the invite.

“From Monday, we definitely saw some improvement,” Round Lake coach Andres Orbe said. “We were opening up spaces and having movement off the ball. I think we’ve progressed a lot.

“We tried different girls in different positions. It was a good tournament to try different things. I was impressed with the freshmen we brought up.”

Waukegan got both of its goals in the first half. Lizbeth Rodriguez scored in the 12th minute, and Jacqueline Ortiz had the other one in the 30th minute.