Add ‘regional champ’ to Grayslake Central’s list

First, the Grayslake Central boys soccer team captured the Fox Valley Fox Division title.

The Rams added another piece of hardware Saturday by netting a regional championship.

Joey Mudd and Johnny Madrid each scored goals, and keeper Connor Gosell had a clean sheet, as top-seeded Grayslake Central shut out No. 3 Wauconda 2-0 in the Class 2A Grayslake Central regional final.

Grayslake Central (16-2-2) moves on to face Antioch (16-4-3) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Grayslake North sectional semifinals. Antioch edged Lakes 2-1 in the Lakes regional final.

“I give Wauconda a lot of credit,” Grayslake Central coach Steve Feldman said. “(Wauconda) put a lot of high pressure on us. We tried to play our game with more possession. They threw us off a little bit, but we had some great finishes.”

Mudd started the Rams’ scoring in the 36th minute by cleaning up a loose ball in front of the goal for his 15th goal of the season.

“Isaac Longenecker had the first touch on it,” Mudd said. “I was just there to finish it. I was going after the ball and not giving up on it. I wanted to give 100 percent. It’s the regionals. It’s either do or die.”

Madrid added an insurance goal in the 68th minute. Rams keeper Connor Gosell made 5 saves in net. Defenders John Moroney, Anthony Betancourth, Jacob Swearingen and Nate Cerquone helped limit Wauconda to few quality scoring chances.

Wauconda (7-12-2) came out with intensity and put pressure on Grayslake Central early on.

“The first half was much better. We applied a lot of pressure,” Wauconda coach Patrick Heckmann said. “(Grayslake Central) felt the pressure and we tried to use it to our advantage from the get-go. It was a competitive game and I’m happy with the effort.”