Boys soccer: Belvidere ousts Grayslake Central

Grayslake Central's boys soccer team put together a 15-win regular season and then reached the sectional semifinals for the first time since 2013.

The Rams' magical season ended Tuesday night, however.

Belvidere edged Grayslake Central 2-1 in the Class 2A Grayslake North sectional semifinals.

"Belvidere, credit to them. They're a good team and they played hard," Grayslake Central coach Tom Hamilton said. "They play soccer the right way and all the credit to them for that. It's a tough way to go out. The farther you go, the harder it gets."

Belvidere (18-5) will next play the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between Vernon Hills and Rockford Boylan in Saturday's 5 p.m. final.

Work ethic has gone a long way for Grayslake Central (15-7-4) in building its program.

"I'm proud of them," Hamilton said of his players. "As a family, we will band together. We're going to look back at what we've done and grow from it. From the seniors to the freshmen, it's a pleasure to work with them. I think they will remember what they've done for a long time."

Grayslake Central lost some talented players from last year but had other players ready to take on new roles.

"This was a team that didn't quit and found that character that they didn't have in the past," Hamilton said. "There were too many hurdles tonight. But we didn't give up and I'm proud of that."

Belvidere scored first in the 52nd minute, as John Nava drilled in a long-range kick for a 1-0 lead.

The Rams rallied to tie the game in the 70th minute, when Austin Rockel took a through ball from Jack Spalding, beat a defender and found the back of the net.

But the Bucs responded a couple of minutes later off a free kick, as Adair Horteales scored on a rebound.

"Our goals come in spurts, but in more games than others," Belvidere coach Jimmy Ivacic. said. "(Grayslake Central) had a lot more height than we did. We had a couple guys in the back that can jump too. My goalie (Edgar Gomez) was able to come off his line to help out real well and had command of his goal box."