Boys soccer: Deerfield denies Grant its postseason goal

Grant's boys soccer team wanted to make some history by winning a regional soccer matchup.

That specific objective has been a focal point for the Bulldogs since their most recent playoff win against Mundelein back in 2005, when there was a two-class system.

The Bulldogs have gotten close lately, with recent losses to Deerfield and Cary-Grove over the last couple of years.

Grant had a shot at this one but couldn't overcome giving up 2 goals in a four-minute span in the first half as fourteenth-seeded Deerfield took advantage and got past the No. 19 Bulldogs 2-0 in a Palatine regional quarterfinal held in Deerfield. The match was supposed to be played on Saturday afternoon but storms postponed the match after about five minutes was played, and it was resumed on Monday night.

"We seem to be always knocking on the door, always right there," Grant coach Bryan Mark said. "This one was just mental mistakes. It wasn't an overall better school than us. We were right there with them."

Grant (2-15-2) had an experienced group which featured nine seniors this season. But the Bulldogs had more than their fair share of injuries.

"This year's group really toughed it out and stuck with it," Mark added. "Periodically, here and there, we had injuries. But I thought we should've won more games with our skill."

The Bulldogs players, especially those seniors, were looking for better things out of the season.

"It's getting to know everybody, worked hard every day and back into the summer," . "We'll see how it goes in the future (in college).

"We had a few injuries in the beginning of the season," said Giovanni Gonzalez, a four-year starter and defensive midfielder, "and it kind of hurt our momentum with our starters out. We wanted to get a regional win for our school - it's been a while."

The Warriors (7-11-3) scored twice in the first half on Monday. Corey Johnson found the back of the net on a running header off a cross from Adam Odzer's cross for a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Then Deerfield's Joey Puyear added an unassisted goal a few minutes later for a 2-0 advantage.

"I thought Grant played us really well," Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. "They moved the ball well in the midfield. But there was a couple of misfortunate goals. We were just stronger than them in the air in the second half and made tackles when we needed to."

Deerfield moves on to play third-seeded Barrington in a Palatine regional semifinal 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.