Stellar Stojak stokes Grayslake North

Contributions from up and down its roster have Grayslake North’s girls soccer team off to its best start in school history.

“All of us work together,” senior Maggie Stojak said.

Stojak led the way with a goal and 3 assists, as the Knights improved to 4-0 with a 5-0 shutout of host Wauconda on Monday in a nonconference match.

The trio of assists gave Stojak four for the season.

“An assist is (more satisfying) than a goal, in my opinion,” Stojak said. “We seem to be doing well.”

Grayslake North has won each of its four matches decisively. The Knights have outscored their opponents 25-2.

“It’s been a good start to the season and the girls are playing pretty well,” Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. “It’s a group that works for each other and fights for each other. We’ve had so many different goal scorers. It’s a system where we’re knocking it around from all different angles. You can say that maybe we’re hitting some teams that are in rebuilding stages, but that’s not what’s happening. It’s us stepping up.”

The Knights are coming off a 10-11-1 season in which they lost eight games by one goal. The tough losses have motivated them to have a stronger year.

“We’ve been waiting for this group of seniors since we brought them up (to varsity) four years ago,” DeCaluwe said. “Each year we’ve taken a step forward. The girls want to win, progress and get better.”

The other goal scorers for Grayslake North were Katie McGrath, Teegan Johnson, Lyz Steinhoff and Jaclyn Brennan. Sam Villwock picked up an assist. McGrath, Stojak and Johnson all scored in helping the Knights build a 3-0 advantage by halftime.

Brooke Sauer earned her second clean sheet.

Wauconda managed just 2 shots on goal in falling to 0-4.

“Each game we’re trying to get things better,” Wauconda coach Patrick Heckmann said. “We trying to fill the gaps with the touches and we keeping working on things.”