Boys soccer: Morrison's goal lifts Grayslake Central to key win

Oh, Henry.

Yes, the old-fashioned candy bar and Wednesday's boys soccer contest between Grayslake Central and Wauconda actually have something in common: a sweet finish.

Henry Morrison scored the game-winning goal, and his Grayslake Central teammates preserved a victory that clinched at least a share of the Northern Lake County Conference title for the Rams.

Grayslake Central earned a 1-0 shutout victory over host Wauconda in the NLCC matchup.

The Rams (8-4-2, 6-0) have one 1 league game remaining and will face Grant on Oct. 12. Lakes (12-5 overall) finished its league play at 6-1.

"It's been a lot of work for the boys to put in," Grayslake Central coach Tom Hamilton said. "We've had injuries and all sorts of subplots. When it comes down to it, they've had character and learned from everything that they've been through, positives or negatives. We have one more coming up and it will be our senior night."

Hamilton and the Rams would prefer to savor the sweet flavor of an outright conference championship.

"We really don't want to share it," he said. "Now that we have it and it's in our sights, we want to clinch it outright."

Morrison scored the game-winner, which was his first goal of the season, in the 20th minute. The strike was set up by several passes before Austin Rockel fed Morrison the ball. Morrison did the rest, beating a Bulldogs defender and finding the back of the net.

"Obviously, I put it in, but it was an overall team effort, all the way around," Morrison said. "(Ethan) Mendoza fed Austin (Rockel) and the back line stepped up, too."

The Rams have made great progress in building their attack with numbers going forward.

"It's actually something we've worked on all season," Morrison said. "We needed to step up more, be more focused and talk more. Especially in the midfield - who's going to move, who's going to step and who will cover. So it's definitely a team movement. I think we got it down to a science."

Wauconda (6-7, 4-3) tried to make adjustments in the second half in an effort to produce a senior night victory.

But Rams keeper Greg Madjarov was up to the task, getting his fourth shutout after stopping 4 shots.

"Our guys did their best, and give credit to Grayslake Central," said Wauconda coach Mike Jacobs, whose team defeated Grant 1-0 on the road Tuesday night. "We did make some adjustments (in the second half), because we knew that we couldn't get much pressure the way we were playing. We came out, made our runs, hit the corners and just put pressure on the (Grayslake Central's) back line.

"To say I love this team is an understatement. These are seniors that it will be tough to say goodbye to."