Vernon Hills gives Grant the boot

By again putting its best foot forward against Grant, Vernon Hills has a leg up in the North Suburban Prairie Division race in girls soccer

The Cougars won their third straight Prairie contest with a 4-0 victory under windy conditions Thursday night in Fox Lake.

Vernon Hills improved to 3-2-1 overall and is 3-0 in the Prairie.

The Cougars also shut out Lakes 5-0 on Tuesday.

“We’ve been surprised with the recent outcomes, of the Lakes game,” said Vernon Hills coach Vince DeLuca, whose team also counts a victory over Antioch in divisional play. “We kept it going in this game.

“The girls were ready to play in this one. We’re a young team that’s coming together.”

The goals have come in bunches over the last two games for the Cougars. On Thursday night, they scored 3 of their 4 against the wind.

“It was nice to see us score against the wind,” DeLuca said. “I’m a bit surprised by (the scoring). We’re a young team and if we pull things together, we can be competitive.”

Alex Goldstein put the Cougars up 1-0 in the 29th minute with a one-time touch off a cross from Kimberly Amari.

Vernon Hills got its offense clicking in the second half.

Allison Clatch knocked in a goal by kicking a deflected ball that originated with Natalina Mariduena in the 47th minute.

Amari scored another one seven minutes later off a touch pass from Kathryn Redig.

Redig scored her own goal in the 53rd minute from 35 yards out, against the wind and under the crossbar.

“We’re learning how to make passes down the lines and up the middle,” Redig said. “We’re just seeing things better than the last couple of years. Also, the girls are able to get past defenses a lot easier.”

Cougars keeper Iris Ostrovsky earned her second straight shutout and third of the season. She made 2 stops, one of them on a breakaway.

Grant (4-6, 1-1) couldn’t match up with Vernon Hills ability-wise, and the Bulldogs’ problem areas were exposed.

“Vernon Hills was an excellent team, and give them all the credit,” Grant coach Michael Kennedy said. “We just made some silly mistakes in the back and (Vernon Hills) took advantage of every opportunity.

“It was one of those games that could’ve been closer but we made too many errors.”