Marian Central stops Grayslake North's playoff run

It was only the second time Grayslake North's boys soccer program was appearing in a sectional game.

The Knights would have preferred a different outcome Wednesday as they came up short in spite of a gallant effort.

Third-seeded Grayslake North fell to No. 2 Marian Central Catholic 2-0 in the Class 2A Grayslake Central semifinal on Wednesday night.

"I think (Marian Central) was quality, but we gave them a little bit more space than we should have," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "We didn't take advantage, and we had to chase a team like Marian Central.

"It was difficult, but I thought we still did a good job. I thought they weren't difficult to break down, but we gave up unfortunate goals. We did make them work."

The Knights had a tough time setting up for shots and had only a few legitimate opportunities on offense.

"First half, we were defending more than we should," DeCaluwe said. "We did struggle in the offensive third a little bit. We were chasing them more in the midfield, and it was hard to have that composure in our offensive third. It still was a quality effort, and we came up against a good team."

The Knights finished their season 13-9-2, which included a victory in their first tournament of the season. In the Fox Valley Conference's Fox Divison, Grayslake North was competitive all the way and followed that up with a string of strong postseason play to reach the sectional semifinals.

"It still was a good season," DeCaluwe said. "These boys deserve a ton of credit. It was the second-best record we've ever had. I thought we had a fantastic year."

The Hurricanes (15-3-1) got both of their goals in the first half from Liam Gries.

Connor Hull set up the first one in the 17th minute for Gries. The second one Gries scored unassisted in the 32nd minute.

"It was a little bit of a gritty game," Marian Central coach Jim Colvin said. "(Grayslake North) was a bit of a scrappy team and came at us hard. They ran fast and put a lot of subs in. They were chasing us around the field and they were like gnats that wouldn't go away. But we felt secure once we got a 2-goal lead. We knew it was never over against these teams, they can come back in a second."

Marian Central next meets No. 5 seed St. Viator (19-5-1) in the sectional championship at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Lions shut out top-seeded Antioch 3-0 in the other semifinal.

The Hurricanes beat the Lions in East Suburban Catholic Conference play, but that was St. Viator's only loss in league play and the Lions ended up winning the conference outright.

"It will be a heck of a matchup," Colvin said. "It will be a conference showdown and should be a good one."