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Boys soccer: Grayslake Central, Round Lake share NLCC title

Grayslake Central and Round Lake have shared the Northern Lake County Conference boys soccer championship before, and they have found a way to share it again.

Entering competition in the final regular-season matchup in the NLCC, each team had identical 6-0 records and they each wanted to break the tie.

Instead, after 80 grueling minutes, both sides couldn't settle more than a scoreless draw and they left the field with ground fog taking over in Round Lake on Thursday night.

"It really doesn't make me feel good, I would've rather have won it," Grayslake Central coach Keith Andersson said. "Round Lake was a great team and I can't say enough about their coaching staff. Just a great group of guys and the way the kids played was just amazing. I give our boys credit, they fought all the way to the end. I thought we had a couple of golden opportunities at the end. That's soccer and it's exciting."

Grayslake Central (9-4-2, 6-0-1) has played a competitive schedule that has helped it get this far and the Rams should be ready for a run in the Class 2A state tournament.

"We have a great bunch of kids and they're getting stronger game by game," Andersson said. "It's just amazing to watch."

Rams keeper Uriel Garcia Perez made 9 saves for the clean sheet, while Panthers keeper Jerry Perez made 11 stops.

Round Lake (8-4-2, 6-0-1) played its hearts out trying to get a victory and settled for the draw.

"I give credit to Grayslake Central, they're a great team," Round Lake coach Hugo Tellez said. "It was two great teams out there, honestly, with two great goalies. Grayslake Central had some great saves and our keeper, Perez, jumped out of nowhere on the corner. It is what it is, I'll go up against anybody no matter what. If we lose, we lose. The guys just played their hearts out there."

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