Grayslake Central nails down shutout of Jacobs

Grayslake Central girls soccer coach Bethany Russ got to see something new from her team Tuesday.

The Rams used a good team effort to score three goals in a 5-minute span in the first half and went on to a 4-0 victory over Jacobs in Algonquin.

"You could just tell there was a level of confidence and communication on the field that I haven't seen before," Russ said. "They created so many chances to score and finished on important ones. We possessed the ball really well today."

Emily Werfel gave Grayslake Central (4-1) the lead in the 14th minute, scoring directly off a corner kick. Werfel scored again in the 16th minute with a right-footed shot into the low left corner. In the 18th minute, Erin Boban was free on the left side. Her shot went off Jacobs goalkeeper Liz Foster's hands and in for a 3-0 Rams lead.

"Once we got the momentum going a little bit they we able to see the find the gaps in the defense," Russ said. "Sometimes we try to play too fast or we try to do too much. When we play simple and work as an entire unit things are a lot more successful."

The Rams' Quin Garbett scored in the 70th minute to complete the scoring.

The Golden Eagles (0-3) had a few scoring opportunities but only had 4 shots on goal. Their best chance came after Caitlin Kowalski's shot hit off the crossbar in the 66th minute. The rebound was misplayed despite an open net.

"We need to come out more focused from the beginning of the game instead of having that deficit and then having to us that as a motivation," Golden Eagles coach Stephanie Schuck said.

Foster finished with 8 saves for Jacobs. The Rams' Rachel Effa made 4 saves to earn the shutout.