Late surge continues for Grayslake North

The second half of the boys soccer season has been a totally different story for Grayslake North.

This past week the Knights clinched the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division championship for only the second time in school history. Then on Saturday, Grayslake North had a stunning start to the postseason. Seeded 19th in the Class 3A Stevenson sectional complex, the Knights downed No. 13 Lake Zurich 4-1 in a Grayslake North regional quarterfinal that was held in Lake Zurich.

Senior forward Sean Dameron notched a hat trick and Grant Nickolson also scored to lead Grayslake North (8-13).

Dameron also had a 3-goal game against Richmond-Burton.

"This hat trick was definitely more meaningful," said a smiling Dameron, who has 10 goals.

Nate Rathe scored for Lake Zurich (7-9-4) in the fourth minute, but Grayslake North came back with four unanswered goals. Nickolson netted the equalizer three minutes later, before Kyle Hensley set up Dameron for the tiebreaking goal in the 18th minute.

Dameron tallied again in the 44th minute, knocking in a loose ball in front of the goal, before drilling in a free kick inside the back post in the 73rd minute.

Lake Zurich had several more quality chances, but the Bears had a shot go over the bar and another ding off the post. Knights keeper Joshua Suciu made 6 saves, including a couple from point-blank range.

"We allowed (Grayslake North) back into the game," Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said. "When they got the momentum, they kept it. We had some bad breaks and hit some posts. Give credit to Grayslake North. They kept working at it."

Grayslake North will return home to face No. 4 Wheeling in a regional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"We're a quality team," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "When we do things right for the entire 80 minutes, we're really good. We've had a tough schedule. When we outplay and outshoot teams, we can look good. But some of the good teams have made us pay. Our record is hard to swallow because we're truly better than what our record says. This effort and performance really shows. it."