Boys soccer: Carmel, Vernon Hills advance to sectional final

Leonardo Farias' 78th-minute goal propelled Carmel Catholic to a 2-1 victory over Grayslake Central on Monday to earn the Corsairs a spot in Friday’s Class 2A Lake Forest sectional final against Vernon Hills.

Farias scored on a cross from Nathaniel Kovarik to stun Grayslake Central (9-9-0), which last week upset third-seeded Libertyville to win its 10th regional title.

“We were confident coming into tonight, and we came out and scored right away, then let them back into the game, but we were so much better in the second half to get a big win tonight,” Farias said.

“We were both lower-seeded teams, and you could say we also both underdogs coming into the postseason, but we always felt we were better than our overall record,” said Corsairs center-back Garryn Thornberry. “So this was another big win for us, and now we'll look forward to playing for a sectional final on Friday.”

Peyton Landrum headed home the opener for the 10th-seeded Corsairs at eight minutes, latching on to a cross from Brady Del Carmen. Alexis De La Cruz Hernandez equalized for the Rams in the 16th minute.

“We gave up that early goal, but we've been a resilient team all season,” said Rams coach Keith Andersson. “So I knew we would get ourselves back in the game, but the second half belonged to Carmel, and it was a well deserved win for them.”

The Corsairs monopolized the possession in the second half, creating several scoring chances. The best came in the 57th minute when Rams keeper Ethan Wood made a save on Landrum, who was sent through by Kovarik.

“We asked the guys to come out and play an even better second half after a pretty good first half, and if we could put together 80 good, solid minutes, I felt we could come away with a win,” said Corsairs coach Colin Spude.

Fourth-seeded Vernon Hills (15-5-2) advanced with a 2-0 victory over top-seeded Notre Dame. The Cougars are in the sectional final for the first time since 2022.

“(This) is something we've been talking about for a while, advancing into a sectional final and taking another step towards getting to state,” said Vernon Hills senior Connor Finn, who assisted on the Cougars’ second goal.

“Our backline, along with our all-state candidate in goal, Maximilian Gral, were outstanding all through this game,” said Cougars coach Mike McCaulou. “And our midfield, led by Dorian Pasternicki and Lucas Cox, won a ton of balls, 50-50 challenges, and really helped us control the game for most of the night.”

The shutout by Gral gives him 12 on the season and his third straight.

“We knew if we played the way we're capable of (that) we could win this game and get into the sectional final, and tonight we got the perfect start to help set the tone for the rest of the game,” Gral said.

A goal by Yehor Nikonov inside two minutes sent the Dons (17-3-5) reeling. Michael Lyubkin doubled the Cougars’ advantage in the 54th minute when he thumped in his header on an assist from Finn.