Girls soccer: Deerfield too tough for Grayslake Central in Glenbrook Cup
Grayslake Central's girls soccer team opened the Glenbrook Cup against a tough Deerfield squad, which could see the Rams in the Class 2A postseason tournament.
Grayslake Central played with the Warriors for a half, before dropping a 5-0 decision. Deerfield scored four second-half goals at Glenbrook South in Glenview on Thursday afternoon.
"We have stretches where we don't play our best or aren't more consistent," Rams coach Daniel DePaz said. "But this is the style that we're capable of playing if our players are playing hard. We can play with (Deerfield)."
Grayslake Central (6-4-1) lost for the third straight game , while Deerfield improved to 13-2-1.
Grayslake Central will play Rockford Lutheran in the consolation semifinal at 5 p.m. Friday at Glenbrook South. Deerfield takes on Glenbrook South (11-1-4) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday. GBS won its opening round game 7-1 over Rockford Lutheran.
Deerfield scored the opening goal against Grayslake Central in the 23rd minute. Samantha Linn found the back of the net off a pass from Mallori Killoren.
The 1-0 advantage stayed that way until Callie Birtman scored off an assist from Linn in the 58th minute. Linn tallied again, as did Birtman, and Rachel Levin finished the scoring.
"I expected a tough game and it took us a while to get going," Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. (Grayslake Central) had some chances early and we weathered the storm. I like how we responded in the second half. (Grayslake Central) connected passes well. We had to figure out how to deal with that. I think we did much better in the second half."
Glenbrook North 4, Grayslake North 2: At Glenbrook North, Grayslake North was making its first appearance in the Glenbrook Cup and drew a competitive Glenbrook North team.
Bethel University-bound Lauren Davis had both goals for the Knights, giving her 16 on the season.
Grayslake North (6-5-1) will meet up with Taft in the consolation semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at the Techney Fields. GBN (6-1-3) plays Warren (5-8-1) in the semifinals, also at 5 p.m., at the Techney Fields.
"It's a different tournament and we're a team looking for consistency," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "I think we gave them too much space in the beginning. We had that chance in the opening two minutes. We hit the inside of the post and it went out. From there, once we didn't score there, we just seemed to back off and give them too much space. We got caught ball watching a couple of times. (Glenbrook North) just finished some chances in front of our box."
The Spartans scored in the fifth minute, as Victoria Caparos knocked in a shot.
GBN added a second goal in the 39th minute, as Janet Garside kicked in a volley. The Spartans added two more in the second half, as Alyssa Nekritz and Emily Charen scored.
The Knights answered back with a pair of goals from Davis in the 55th and 63rd minutes.
"We don't play Grayslake North that often," Glenbrook North coach Craig Loch said. "They were a good team and they have some good pieces. I think they can move the ball well and create havoc in the midfield."
Warren 5, Taft 0: The Blue Devils got the shutout in their opening game of the Glenbrook Cup.
Elizabeth Weinberg scored a hat trick, while Cate Cullison and Emily Soriaga also scored.
"It was great to see the girls incorporate combinations that we've worked on recently," Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. "To me, it's a signal that we're starting to gel and understand how to play as a team."