Boys soccer: Haywood, Round Lake open with victory
Maqiis Haywood has scoring potential, but the Round Lake soccer player can also the ball when needed.
He did that on a couple of occasions Tuesday, picking up a couple of assists in helping lead the Panthers to a season-opening, 3-0 victory over Dundee-Crown in the North Shore Shootout at Lake Forest.
Ivan Guerrero, Bruce Ruiz and Cristobal Hidrogo all scored, while Juan Gomez added an assist.
"If I assist, I assist and if I score, then I score," Hayward said. "As long as I can help my team out in any way, assisting or scoring, that's what's important."
The Panthers have had success over several years, but they have a different look coming into the season. Freshmen Edgar Arteaga, Gerrado Perez and Saul Valdez all made the varsity.
"It's a different team with three freshmen up on varsity," Round Lake coach Hugo Tellez said. "It feels like my first year. It's really a great bunch of kids. We don't have one (great) player. We have a bunch of players that are quick and very good."
Haywood started the scoring with a dish to Guerrero in the box in the 10th minute. Haywood then set up Ruiz in the 47th minute for the 2-0 advantage.
Hidrogo scored off a pass from Gomez in the 55th minute. Perez earned the clean sheet with 4 stops.
Dundee-Crown graduated 14 players.
"We're not young, but we don't have a lot returning players from last year's squad," Chargers coach Rey Vargas said. "(Round Lake) exposed us and showed us the work we have to do. You take one and hope for the best going forward."
Round Lake plays Zion-Benton at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Lake Forest.
Carmel 3, Lake Forest 2: At Lake Forest, the Corsairs came back from a 1-0 deficit at the half, scoring twice in the second half before the Scout tied it up again.
Carmel prevailed in penalty kicks, 5-4, in seven rounds.
Corsairs keeper Camden Krautsack made 2 saves in the PKs and had five for the match.
Jack Wojcik scored the game-winning kick, while Matt Duffy and Aidan Harrison scored the other goals.
"We played with a lot of intensity," Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. "Good to see some great performances. Great leadership from Camden Krautsack with the 2 saves in the PKs at a high-stakes moment. All (Lake Forest) had to do was make it to win and (Krautsack) makes the well-shot PK. Also, Matt Grzesiak did well in the middle. We responded well from a deficit in the second half."
Carmel takes on Highland Park at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Lake Forest.
Highland Park 4, Lakes 0: At Lake Forest, the Giants scored four times in the second half.
"We played well in the first half and had some good looks at the goal but couldn't convert," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "The second half did not go well and Highland Park, to their credit, converted on their second-half chances."
Zion-Benton 2, Deerfield 0: At Lake Forest, the Zee-Bees won the season opener.