Boys soccer: Grayslake Central advances to regional semifinals

Grayslake Central's boys soccer team is hoping its competitive schedule early in the season will pay off.

Maybe it has already, as the Rams have seen a turnaround in recent matches.

The latest example came Saturday at home, as eighth-seeded Grayslake Central shut out No. 9 Antioch 6-0 in the Class 2A Antioch regional quarterfinal.

Dani Orozco and Henry Morrison each scored twice, while Tyler Armstrong and Peder Harvey had goals as well. Rams keeper Alexis Garcia-Perez made 2 stops for his third clean sheet of the season.

However, the Rams didn't play the style of soccer coach Tom Hamilton wanted to see. Grayslake Central (5-13-2) will next play top-seeded Crystal Lake South (15-2-3) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the regional semifinals at Antioch.

"I feel that we're playing with more confidence," Hamilton said. "To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with our performance today, and I don't think any of us were. It's a playoff win and we're happy with that. For long stretches, we weren't playing our style of soccer. We were playing a lot of long balls and through balls."

Orozco scored a twice in a five-goal outburst in the first half. He has 10 goals on the season, with five coming in the last three games. Kevin O'Brien assisted on Orozco's first goal, and the second was set up courtesy of Thomas Ramsey. Ramsey had another assist as well. Other assists went to Jack Kulis and Harvey.

"We've been passing the ball around a lot," Orozco said. "A lot of credit goes to (my teammates). They've been giving me the ball and finding me in good spaces. We have been playing more as a team and working for each other more. We've started to notice what it takes to make it far in the playoffs."

"When we settle the ball, play simple and move off each other, that's where we find our success," Hamilton said. "We definitely have something to build off here. I think those early results are in the past, and the boys are believing in themselves."

Antioch (3-17) fielded a team with several seniors this season. Alex Keeler was one of them and led the Sequoits offensively with 12 goals and 6 assists.

"Our program is in transition with a lot of moving parts," Antioch coach Mike McDermott said. "It's hard to keep everything greased and moving in the right direction. We faced a lot of adversity and a lot of changes. With the talent on the team, the future is bright, but we're also sad for our seniors to go. They gave so much to our program."