Grayslake Central makes point
in 3rd place game vs. Solorio
Rams use added motivation to post 4-0 win
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – The NCAA basketball Final Four dropped third place games from its March Madness spectacle 40 years ago, going with the concept that anything but championship play in the postseason is essentially meaningless.
Grayslake Central begs to differ.
After finishing fourth in the 2021 Class AA finals, the Rams (19-2-3) played motivated soccer, especially after an 18-hour turnaround for a 9 a.m. game on a Saturday played mostly in steady rain and high winds.
Scoring just 2:49 into the game, Grayslake Central rolled to a 4-0 win over Solorio (22-5-0) and made an impressive final memory in a season of overcoming major adversity in a major way.
“One of the things I told the boys before we got here (Saturday) was, the fourth place trophy is the consolation trophy,” Rams coach Keith Andersson said. “I want to win this trophy and go out with a 'W.' That way we end on a high note as opposed to last year.
“Yes, it was exciting as the first time in school history (to make state in 2021), but now we have to be a stronger team, and we want the best.”
A run to state seemed impossible after star striker Daniel Marynevych and defensive stalwart Jose Chavez suffered season-ending injuries in the 11th game of the season. But the Rams forged on to incredible success.
“I remember some of my friends in school asking ‘How many goals is Daniel going to score in this game?’” Rams junior Mitchell Fein said.
“I think they felt like he was the entire team. But when he got injured, it really shows the depth and ability of our team to be able to play without him.”
Alan Alonso filled the void nicely with 15 goals and 22 assists entering the weekend. The senior wasted no time adding to his scoring totals, racing in left toward the end line in the third minute and angling a 10-yarder inside the back post for a quick 1-0 Rams lead.
“We tried to not play as much long ball,” Alonso said of the team strategy playing into the gusts, “but just move it on the ground and play our game basically.”
To Andersson, the fast start under less-than-ideal conditions was just the latest impressive feat for his resilient team.
“The biggest thing is the leadership, with Alan, Mitchell (Fein), Lucas (Veenstra),” he said.
“Daniel was the superstar, and what I loved the most was that Alan stepped up and became that superstar. He really led the team. I’ve never seen a better box-to-box center midfielder in the state. And as a team they really came together. When they got on that field it was beautiful soccer.”
Solorio had a late, key injury to overcome.
Standout defender Ivan Lopez was unable to play after suffering a concussion in Friday’s 4-2 double-overtime semifinal loss to eventual champion Notre Dame (Peoria).
“Yesterday I went to the hospital, and the doctor said I can’t play for a week,” Lopez said. “I was begging to come in for the last two minutes at least, but for safety precautions I needed to sit out.”
Down 1-0 after Alonso’s goal, Solorio tried to respond with early chances from Yamir Gallegos. First, the senior forward sent a corner kick off the side of the net in the 5th minute, then he drove a low 28-yard shot in the 13th minute that was blocked and controlled by Rams junior goalkeeper Uriel Garcia-Perez.
But outside of those bids, Grayslake Central continued to defy Mother Nature and have the better of play.
Fein, Gerardo Gongora, Jaziel Alonso and Ivan Sereno all had offensive end passes in a sequence 27:05 before halftime. It led to a chance that concluded with a Jake Clement left-side burst into the box that Solorio’s Sebastian Gonzalez and Adrian Munoz finally denied and cleared.
Solorio’s defense again stood tall in the 20th minute, blocking a Fein 20-yard free kick and a subsequent shot before goalkeeper David Salgado made the save on a third shot.
Alan Alonso later backed up his offensive reputation with two defensive plays: blocking and clearing a Gallegos 33-yard free kick in the 31st minute, then making a steal 15 yards out to deny another threat in the 33rd minute.
But it was his offensive play that stood out, and he came up big again 4:11 before halftime to double the Rams lead.
Taking a short send off a 35-yard Rams free kick opportunity, he raced in to the left end line and sent a perfect cross to Ivan Sereno at the back post for an easy put-away.
“For the first ball I thought Alan was going too wide, and it was just going to deflect off a defender for a corner,” Sereno said. “But I kept running, and the ball just slipped through defenders, and I got a tap-in there.”
Solorio nearly answered in the 39th minute but Grayslake Central senior defender Eric Garcia-Perez cleared the ball off the goal line. That was followed by a Gallegos corner kick, but Anderson Chevrier had an initial touch for the Rams, and Gonzalez’s ensuing deflection went wide of the net to end the half 2-0.
Coming off a hard-fought loss in a 100-minute battle Friday that was compounded by Lopez’s absence, Solorio faced an uphill battle.
“Our style was very similar to schools like (earlier AA tournament opponents) Mount Carmel and St. Laurence,” Solorio coach Adrian Calleros said, “but the one thing we didn’t have is that depth.
“We played those teams and made one sub: 12 guys played all the minutes. Today was obviously a reflection of that (depth issue). Everybody was a little beat up, and we had a captain (Lopez) who took a good shot to the head yesterday and couldn’t play.”
Now with Grayslake Central having the wind advantage, the second half would only be a bigger challenge for the Sun Warriors.
Alan Alonso’s 19-yard free kick over the net four minutes into the half was the first threat.
Then with 31:51 to go, freshman Ivan Sereno celebrated his first weekend on the state stage with his second goal of the game. This time it came on the end of a Jaziel Alonso cross.
“I was going to play it to Alan, too,” Sereno said, “but I turned to the middle and had a shot and scored.”
Up 3-0, the Rams then turned up the heat even more with three Fein corner kicks in the next two minutes. The first ended with a Veenstra shot deflected wide, and the third with a Clement back post header that went just wide.
Just 25 seconds after Clement’s try, Fein had another corner kick.
This time, he curled his right-side send high, and it hit off goalkeeper David Salgado’s hands and toward the far post. The ball appeared to cross the goal line on its own, but Veenstra was there to chest the ball in for the official put-away that was ruled a goal after a brief conference among the center and far-side officials.
“I had like six corners in like 20 minutes there,” Fein joked. “When I took the corners, the wind was blowing toward the goal as I was whipping them in. So, I called a play where all of our players go to the near post.
“I figured if I put it toward them, the wind could blow it and cause some problems for the goalie. That’s what I did. I hit it pretty nicely, and it almost went in. It bounced out, and Lucas was able to put it in.”
Now with a 4-0 lead, the Rams relied on a nice save at the right post by Uriel Garcia-Perez to deny a Solorio attack with 26:45 left.
But it was Grayslake Central with the wind and the majority of offense the rest of the way, especially when a second yellow card on Gallegos with 13:02 left put the Sun Warriors one man down the rest of the way. The team also finished with head coach Calleros, whose disagreement with the referee led to an early dismissal.
A right-post save on Orlando Ojeda’s shot with 12:05 left was be the last threat to the Rams shutout. Solorio’s scoring star much of the tournament was denied a final great postseason moment.
“Before the season started, I wasn’t playing soccer for a while (due to injury), so I worked to get back where I was,” Ojeda said. “I started off slow, but I realized during the season that this is my last year. When it came to these big games (in the postseason) I really have to give my all. That’s what I pretty much did.”
After mass substitutions, the game’s final great scoring chance came with 1:45 left. Off a Cory Hayson corner kick, Grayslake Central’s Gerardo Gongora’s shot was headed off the goal line near the right post by Solorio defender Santiago Leyva.
Two minutes later, the Rams started celebrating the best finish in program history as one of only two Class AA teams who closed 2022 with a win.
It was a sweet victory to be sure, yet there was a moment spent to consider what might have been.
“I wish today was yesterday,” Andersson said. “They came out with intensity and purpose, and yesterday (a 1-0 semifinal loss to Glenwood), they just weren’t there.”
The players shared that opinion, but certainly made the most of their final chance of 2022.
“I saw the (Glenwood) team warming up right now (for the finals), and I’m thinking ‘that should have been us,’” Alan Alonso said. “But I’m happy, and happy for the team. There are still talented young players here (including three freshmen starters) that have a couple more years. I’m happy we improved from last year and got third.
“I remember this one article early in the season, (headlined) ‘State title or bust.’ That really stuck with me. I only had one goal in mind, to reach here again.
“Obviously Daniel and Jose were two big losses,” he added. “But I think our team was able to pull itself back together really well, and we were playing a different style of futbol, not just long balls and let Daniel run, but build and get everybody shooting. Daniel was our top scorer, but now it made other people step up and take that role.”
The Rams regrouped, and capped it all with a great finish to state weekend.
“Obviously we were aiming for first,” Fein said, “so it’s hard to see other teams warming up to play for the trophy we wanted. But it’s definitely a good thing to end on a high note for our seniors, unlike last year where we lost in the third place game. It’s a lot better to end the season with a win.”
Solorio had its own great story, following up its 2017 Class AA title with another state trophy.
“After we were down here in 2017 and won, we unfortunately had a (Chicago teachers) strike and the pandemic. That took two great teams away,” Calleros said. “But these guys coming in and picking up the slack … we’re fortunate the guys buy into the system and what we do, and they put the work in. And the results are here.”
A 2-2-0 record early in the year posed a challenge, and included a 3-0 loss to St. Laurence. But Solorio avenged that setback with a 4-3 sectional final win over the Vikings, a big sign of the team’s growth.
“These guys came in and the beginning of the season started off rough,” Calleros said. “And I’m like ‘You guys didn’t put the star on the jersey (from 2017) or any of those trophies in there. But everybody sees the jersey and wants to beat you. You buy in and you lead, and we can do something, or we’re going to get kicked around all season.’
“Luckily they bought in. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of four seniors (Ojeda, Lopez, Gallegos and Leyva).”
Gonzalez will be in one of those key senior roles next year. He dwill savor the 2022 experience.
“What made the season successful was that we worked as a team,” he said. “We weren’t as strong at the beginning, but we grew our chemistry, and we really grew up as a team. We improved a lot.
“It was always in our minds (to make state). We had an amazing team. I felt like it came down to whether you wanted it or not.”
A run of 20 wins in 21 games entering the weekend answered that question.
“There was definitely a lot of confidence winning city (the Chicago Public League tournament),” Ojeda said, “because that’s an achievement for us. And playing against all these teams in the state (tournament) showed us how much we could keep up with these teams and how much talent we had.”
Lopez knows the Solorio tradition is in good hands.
“I know I’m able to trust this guy here (Gonzalez) for leadership next year,” he said. “And I’ll expect them to be back here next year.”
As for Grayslake Central, they see Saturday’s impressive third place win as another step towards even bigger things.
“For the next couple years I feel we can make it this far again,” Ivan Sereno said. “and hopefully make it to state at least one of the years.”
Starting lineups
Grayslake Central
GK: Uriel Garcia-Perez
D: Damian Sereno
D: Eric Garcia-Perez
D: Lucas Veenstra
M: Mitchell Fein
M: Jaziel Alonso
M: Alan Alonso
M: Anderson Chevrier
M: Ivan Sereno
F: Raymond Sereno
F: Nick Molochnikov
Solorio
GK: David Salgado
D: Jose Teudocio Reyes
D: Sebastian Gonzalez
D: Omar Ocampo
D: Ignacio Contreras
M: Adrian Munoz
M: Orlando Ojeda
M: Christopher Bueno
M: Junior Pineda Alcala
F: Ricardo Mejia
F: Yamir Gallegos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ivan Sereno, fr., MF, Grayslake Central;
Alan Alonso, sr., MF, Grayslake Central
Scoring summary
First half
GC- Alan Alonso (Nick Molochnikov), 3’
GC- Ivan Sereno (Alonso), 36’
Second half
GC- Ivan Sereno (Jaziel Alonso), 49’
GC- Lucas Veenstra (Mitchell Fein), 53’
in 3rd place game vs. Solorio
Rams use added motivation to post 4-0 win
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – The NCAA basketball Final Four dropped third place games from its March Madness spectacle 40 years ago, going with the concept that anything but championship play in the postseason is essentially meaningless.
Grayslake Central begs to differ.
After finishing fourth in the 2021 Class AA finals, the Rams (19-2-3) played motivated soccer, especially after an 18-hour turnaround for a 9 a.m. game on a Saturday played mostly in steady rain and high winds.
Scoring just 2:49 into the game, Grayslake Central rolled to a 4-0 win over Solorio (22-5-0) and made an impressive final memory in a season of overcoming major adversity in a major way.
“One of the things I told the boys before we got here (Saturday) was, the fourth place trophy is the consolation trophy,” Rams coach Keith Andersson said. “I want to win this trophy and go out with a 'W.' That way we end on a high note as opposed to last year.
“Yes, it was exciting as the first time in school history (to make state in 2021), but now we have to be a stronger team, and we want the best.”
A run to state seemed impossible after star striker Daniel Marynevych and defensive stalwart Jose Chavez suffered season-ending injuries in the 11th game of the season. But the Rams forged on to incredible success.
“I remember some of my friends in school asking ‘How many goals is Daniel going to score in this game?’” Rams junior Mitchell Fein said.
“I think they felt like he was the entire team. But when he got injured, it really shows the depth and ability of our team to be able to play without him.”
Alan Alonso filled the void nicely with 15 goals and 22 assists entering the weekend. The senior wasted no time adding to his scoring totals, racing in left toward the end line in the third minute and angling a 10-yarder inside the back post for a quick 1-0 Rams lead.
“We tried to not play as much long ball,” Alonso said of the team strategy playing into the gusts, “but just move it on the ground and play our game basically.”
To Andersson, the fast start under less-than-ideal conditions was just the latest impressive feat for his resilient team.
“The biggest thing is the leadership, with Alan, Mitchell (Fein), Lucas (Veenstra),” he said.
“Daniel was the superstar, and what I loved the most was that Alan stepped up and became that superstar. He really led the team. I’ve never seen a better box-to-box center midfielder in the state. And as a team they really came together. When they got on that field it was beautiful soccer.”
Solorio had a late, key injury to overcome.
Standout defender Ivan Lopez was unable to play after suffering a concussion in Friday’s 4-2 double-overtime semifinal loss to eventual champion Notre Dame (Peoria).
“Yesterday I went to the hospital, and the doctor said I can’t play for a week,” Lopez said. “I was begging to come in for the last two minutes at least, but for safety precautions I needed to sit out.”
Down 1-0 after Alonso’s goal, Solorio tried to respond with early chances from Yamir Gallegos. First, the senior forward sent a corner kick off the side of the net in the 5th minute, then he drove a low 28-yard shot in the 13th minute that was blocked and controlled by Rams junior goalkeeper Uriel Garcia-Perez.
But outside of those bids, Grayslake Central continued to defy Mother Nature and have the better of play.
Fein, Gerardo Gongora, Jaziel Alonso and Ivan Sereno all had offensive end passes in a sequence 27:05 before halftime. It led to a chance that concluded with a Jake Clement left-side burst into the box that Solorio’s Sebastian Gonzalez and Adrian Munoz finally denied and cleared.
Solorio’s defense again stood tall in the 20th minute, blocking a Fein 20-yard free kick and a subsequent shot before goalkeeper David Salgado made the save on a third shot.
Alan Alonso later backed up his offensive reputation with two defensive plays: blocking and clearing a Gallegos 33-yard free kick in the 31st minute, then making a steal 15 yards out to deny another threat in the 33rd minute.
But it was his offensive play that stood out, and he came up big again 4:11 before halftime to double the Rams lead.
Taking a short send off a 35-yard Rams free kick opportunity, he raced in to the left end line and sent a perfect cross to Ivan Sereno at the back post for an easy put-away.
“For the first ball I thought Alan was going too wide, and it was just going to deflect off a defender for a corner,” Sereno said. “But I kept running, and the ball just slipped through defenders, and I got a tap-in there.”
Solorio nearly answered in the 39th minute but Grayslake Central senior defender Eric Garcia-Perez cleared the ball off the goal line. That was followed by a Gallegos corner kick, but Anderson Chevrier had an initial touch for the Rams, and Gonzalez’s ensuing deflection went wide of the net to end the half 2-0.
Coming off a hard-fought loss in a 100-minute battle Friday that was compounded by Lopez’s absence, Solorio faced an uphill battle.
“Our style was very similar to schools like (earlier AA tournament opponents) Mount Carmel and St. Laurence,” Solorio coach Adrian Calleros said, “but the one thing we didn’t have is that depth.
“We played those teams and made one sub: 12 guys played all the minutes. Today was obviously a reflection of that (depth issue). Everybody was a little beat up, and we had a captain (Lopez) who took a good shot to the head yesterday and couldn’t play.”
Now with Grayslake Central having the wind advantage, the second half would only be a bigger challenge for the Sun Warriors.
Alan Alonso’s 19-yard free kick over the net four minutes into the half was the first threat.
Then with 31:51 to go, freshman Ivan Sereno celebrated his first weekend on the state stage with his second goal of the game. This time it came on the end of a Jaziel Alonso cross.
“I was going to play it to Alan, too,” Sereno said, “but I turned to the middle and had a shot and scored.”
Up 3-0, the Rams then turned up the heat even more with three Fein corner kicks in the next two minutes. The first ended with a Veenstra shot deflected wide, and the third with a Clement back post header that went just wide.
Just 25 seconds after Clement’s try, Fein had another corner kick.
This time, he curled his right-side send high, and it hit off goalkeeper David Salgado’s hands and toward the far post. The ball appeared to cross the goal line on its own, but Veenstra was there to chest the ball in for the official put-away that was ruled a goal after a brief conference among the center and far-side officials.
“I had like six corners in like 20 minutes there,” Fein joked. “When I took the corners, the wind was blowing toward the goal as I was whipping them in. So, I called a play where all of our players go to the near post.
“I figured if I put it toward them, the wind could blow it and cause some problems for the goalie. That’s what I did. I hit it pretty nicely, and it almost went in. It bounced out, and Lucas was able to put it in.”
Now with a 4-0 lead, the Rams relied on a nice save at the right post by Uriel Garcia-Perez to deny a Solorio attack with 26:45 left.
But it was Grayslake Central with the wind and the majority of offense the rest of the way, especially when a second yellow card on Gallegos with 13:02 left put the Sun Warriors one man down the rest of the way. The team also finished with head coach Calleros, whose disagreement with the referee led to an early dismissal.
A right-post save on Orlando Ojeda’s shot with 12:05 left was be the last threat to the Rams shutout. Solorio’s scoring star much of the tournament was denied a final great postseason moment.
“Before the season started, I wasn’t playing soccer for a while (due to injury), so I worked to get back where I was,” Ojeda said. “I started off slow, but I realized during the season that this is my last year. When it came to these big games (in the postseason) I really have to give my all. That’s what I pretty much did.”
After mass substitutions, the game’s final great scoring chance came with 1:45 left. Off a Cory Hayson corner kick, Grayslake Central’s Gerardo Gongora’s shot was headed off the goal line near the right post by Solorio defender Santiago Leyva.
Two minutes later, the Rams started celebrating the best finish in program history as one of only two Class AA teams who closed 2022 with a win.
It was a sweet victory to be sure, yet there was a moment spent to consider what might have been.
“I wish today was yesterday,” Andersson said. “They came out with intensity and purpose, and yesterday (a 1-0 semifinal loss to Glenwood), they just weren’t there.”
The players shared that opinion, but certainly made the most of their final chance of 2022.
“I saw the (Glenwood) team warming up right now (for the finals), and I’m thinking ‘that should have been us,’” Alan Alonso said. “But I’m happy, and happy for the team. There are still talented young players here (including three freshmen starters) that have a couple more years. I’m happy we improved from last year and got third.
“I remember this one article early in the season, (headlined) ‘State title or bust.’ That really stuck with me. I only had one goal in mind, to reach here again.
“Obviously Daniel and Jose were two big losses,” he added. “But I think our team was able to pull itself back together really well, and we were playing a different style of futbol, not just long balls and let Daniel run, but build and get everybody shooting. Daniel was our top scorer, but now it made other people step up and take that role.”
The Rams regrouped, and capped it all with a great finish to state weekend.
“Obviously we were aiming for first,” Fein said, “so it’s hard to see other teams warming up to play for the trophy we wanted. But it’s definitely a good thing to end on a high note for our seniors, unlike last year where we lost in the third place game. It’s a lot better to end the season with a win.”
Solorio had its own great story, following up its 2017 Class AA title with another state trophy.
“After we were down here in 2017 and won, we unfortunately had a (Chicago teachers) strike and the pandemic. That took two great teams away,” Calleros said. “But these guys coming in and picking up the slack … we’re fortunate the guys buy into the system and what we do, and they put the work in. And the results are here.”
A 2-2-0 record early in the year posed a challenge, and included a 3-0 loss to St. Laurence. But Solorio avenged that setback with a 4-3 sectional final win over the Vikings, a big sign of the team’s growth.
“These guys came in and the beginning of the season started off rough,” Calleros said. “And I’m like ‘You guys didn’t put the star on the jersey (from 2017) or any of those trophies in there. But everybody sees the jersey and wants to beat you. You buy in and you lead, and we can do something, or we’re going to get kicked around all season.’
“Luckily they bought in. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of four seniors (Ojeda, Lopez, Gallegos and Leyva).”
Gonzalez will be in one of those key senior roles next year. He dwill savor the 2022 experience.
“What made the season successful was that we worked as a team,” he said. “We weren’t as strong at the beginning, but we grew our chemistry, and we really grew up as a team. We improved a lot.
“It was always in our minds (to make state). We had an amazing team. I felt like it came down to whether you wanted it or not.”
A run of 20 wins in 21 games entering the weekend answered that question.
“There was definitely a lot of confidence winning city (the Chicago Public League tournament),” Ojeda said, “because that’s an achievement for us. And playing against all these teams in the state (tournament) showed us how much we could keep up with these teams and how much talent we had.”
Lopez knows the Solorio tradition is in good hands.
“I know I’m able to trust this guy here (Gonzalez) for leadership next year,” he said. “And I’ll expect them to be back here next year.”
As for Grayslake Central, they see Saturday’s impressive third place win as another step towards even bigger things.
“For the next couple years I feel we can make it this far again,” Ivan Sereno said. “and hopefully make it to state at least one of the years.”
Starting lineups
Grayslake Central
GK: Uriel Garcia-Perez
D: Damian Sereno
D: Eric Garcia-Perez
D: Lucas Veenstra
M: Mitchell Fein
M: Jaziel Alonso
M: Alan Alonso
M: Anderson Chevrier
M: Ivan Sereno
F: Raymond Sereno
F: Nick Molochnikov
Solorio
GK: David Salgado
D: Jose Teudocio Reyes
D: Sebastian Gonzalez
D: Omar Ocampo
D: Ignacio Contreras
M: Adrian Munoz
M: Orlando Ojeda
M: Christopher Bueno
M: Junior Pineda Alcala
F: Ricardo Mejia
F: Yamir Gallegos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ivan Sereno, fr., MF, Grayslake Central;
Alan Alonso, sr., MF, Grayslake Central
Scoring summary
First half
GC- Alan Alonso (Nick Molochnikov), 3’
GC- Ivan Sereno (Alonso), 36’
Second half
GC- Ivan Sereno (Jaziel Alonso), 49’
GC- Lucas Veenstra (Mitchell Fein), 53’