Grayslake C. misses point on 80-minute PK
Rams fall 1-0 in league opener at Grayslake North
By Rusty Silber
GRAYSLAKE -- What was thought to be a turning point in the season had a bit of a setback for Grayslake Central on opening night of the conference season for the Rams on Thursday night.
The visitors entered the game after a decisive first victory of the season Tuesday when it defeated a well-regarded, young Warren squad in Gurnee.
Grayslake Central planned for the momentum to continue with a result against district rival Grayslake North. Instead a penalty kick in the final minute left the Rams on the wrong side of 1-0 score in the Northern Lake County Conference game.
There was no doubt the effort was there for the Rams (1-7-0, 0-1-0), who plan to continue growing in he second half of the season with an eye on making a splash in the conference and playoffs.
"Our defense has made a lot of strides," Grayslake Central coach Tom Hamilton said. "They've responded to some tough lessons early on. They've come together very quickly given how much change there has been. So you can be pleased with that."
The Rams have played one of the toughest Class 3A schedules in the state. That's especially impressive for a AA school, but it meets the needs of lofty goals. The ambitious spot in the Northside College Showcase allowed for many meaningful minutes of high-level competition.
Grayslake Central was one of the top teams in the conference last season and had one of their better seasons over the last several years.
"We've learned every lesson that needs to be learned at this point," Hamilton added. "It's a matter off executing and applying what we've learned from those lessons. That's what every game from now on is going to be. It's lessons that have been applied."
Rams' senior forward Jack Kulis, knows that every match that's played is a learning experience. The team's backline has shown that it has taken those lessons to heart.
"Our defense had improved immensely this whole season," Kulis said. "We're a young team, and this wasn't the result we wanted. But every result, every game we have to move forward. That's what we will continue to do. These teams that we've played, I don't think we were expecting results from them. But those teams we played are lessons that we learned, and we're going to get results for it."
Junior Mitchell Kocialkowski is one of the leaders on defense for Grayslake Central. He showed why the Rams are improving every game, and that they will be a tough team to to score goals against. He is joins Kevin O'Brien, Caschu Model and James Rohlfing, along with goalkeeper Alexis Garcia Perez (four saves on the night) to discourage opposing offenses.
"I thought we played real well defensively," Kocialkowski said. "We tracked back; we got up. We were able to distribute the ball in the middle. This was a good game, and we measured our strengths out here. We need to work a little harder. Then we could've gotten the win, or may have gotten a few goals up."
Trying to pull things together and seeing the improvement in the Rams defense has been gratifying.
"We lost a lot of our seniors, mostly our defense," Kocialkowski added. "We still have Kevin O'Brien and he's a great player. At the beginning (of the season), we were disconnected and didn't talk that much. Now, we talk, we connect and have to communicate more. That's all we have to focus on moving forward."
Grayslake North (3-1-0, 1-0-0) has been beaten by its rival the last couple of years in PKs.
It really looked like the grueling match would be settled with a tie. Due to a change in the conference rules this season, the league will not play overtime or use shootouts to determine a winner. If games are tied after 80 minutes, they go in the book as a draw.
Grayslake North made that a moot point. The Knights had a corner kick in the final minute. On the play, there was a foul near the top of the box where Matthew Heery was taken down and a PK was awarded.
Heery connected on the spot shot for the game-winning goal with 55 seconds left.
"It was huge, especially in the last minute of the game," said Heery, who scored his second goal of the season and was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. "I had to do as much as a can to help my team win. I tried not to have any nerves when I go up there. I knew where I wanted to go the entire time, and I just placed it there."
Each team had limited scoring chances in the game.
"We've had tight matchups like this one," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "That's what we expect out of this game. (Grayslake Central) outworked us and played one heck of a game. I consider us to be very fortunate to get the result. It was a typical Grayslake battle. It's fight, it's energy and fortunately we got one at the end there."
Grayslake North didn't start the way it wanted to but picked up steam.
"One of the things we've been working on is our constancy," DeCaluwe said. "We played really well throughout portions of the season so far against a couple of tough teams. We really proved to ourselves that we can play. For whatever reason, we don't come out with that energy with urgency from the start.
"We have an inexperienced group. We do have a good amount of seniors but a number were JV players last year that are new to this level. They are learning about the speed, physicality and struggling a little bit with confidence. We matched up with a good team (Grayslake Central) who had a good result against Warren the other day. It's taking a little bit of time for our guys to realize that we can play our game."
Starting lineups
Grayslake Central
GK-Alexis Garcia Perez
D-James Rohlfing
D-Kevin O'Brien
D-Mitchell Kocialkowski
D-Caschu Model
MF-Thomas Ramsey
MF-Dani Orozco
MF-Ozzy Gayton
MF-Owen Aaberg
F-Peder Harvey
F-Jack Kulis
Grayslake North
GK-Tyler Clausen
D-Edwin De ita Cruz
D-Omar Cordova
D-Amir Kherzai
D-Nikolaus Schultze
MF-Jack Moran
MF-Angel Uriostegui
MF-Logan Holevas
MF-Matthew Heery
F-Sam Inmon
F-William Meyer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Matthew Heery, sr., MF, Grayslake North
Referee-Vitali Hantsevich; assistant referees, Mark Clark, Mike Conklin
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
GN: Heery, PK, 80th minute
Rams fall 1-0 in league opener at Grayslake North
By Rusty Silber
GRAYSLAKE -- What was thought to be a turning point in the season had a bit of a setback for Grayslake Central on opening night of the conference season for the Rams on Thursday night.
The visitors entered the game after a decisive first victory of the season Tuesday when it defeated a well-regarded, young Warren squad in Gurnee.
Grayslake Central planned for the momentum to continue with a result against district rival Grayslake North. Instead a penalty kick in the final minute left the Rams on the wrong side of 1-0 score in the Northern Lake County Conference game.
There was no doubt the effort was there for the Rams (1-7-0, 0-1-0), who plan to continue growing in he second half of the season with an eye on making a splash in the conference and playoffs.
"Our defense has made a lot of strides," Grayslake Central coach Tom Hamilton said. "They've responded to some tough lessons early on. They've come together very quickly given how much change there has been. So you can be pleased with that."
The Rams have played one of the toughest Class 3A schedules in the state. That's especially impressive for a AA school, but it meets the needs of lofty goals. The ambitious spot in the Northside College Showcase allowed for many meaningful minutes of high-level competition.
Grayslake Central was one of the top teams in the conference last season and had one of their better seasons over the last several years.
"We've learned every lesson that needs to be learned at this point," Hamilton added. "It's a matter off executing and applying what we've learned from those lessons. That's what every game from now on is going to be. It's lessons that have been applied."
Rams' senior forward Jack Kulis, knows that every match that's played is a learning experience. The team's backline has shown that it has taken those lessons to heart.
"Our defense had improved immensely this whole season," Kulis said. "We're a young team, and this wasn't the result we wanted. But every result, every game we have to move forward. That's what we will continue to do. These teams that we've played, I don't think we were expecting results from them. But those teams we played are lessons that we learned, and we're going to get results for it."
Junior Mitchell Kocialkowski is one of the leaders on defense for Grayslake Central. He showed why the Rams are improving every game, and that they will be a tough team to to score goals against. He is joins Kevin O'Brien, Caschu Model and James Rohlfing, along with goalkeeper Alexis Garcia Perez (four saves on the night) to discourage opposing offenses.
"I thought we played real well defensively," Kocialkowski said. "We tracked back; we got up. We were able to distribute the ball in the middle. This was a good game, and we measured our strengths out here. We need to work a little harder. Then we could've gotten the win, or may have gotten a few goals up."
Trying to pull things together and seeing the improvement in the Rams defense has been gratifying.
"We lost a lot of our seniors, mostly our defense," Kocialkowski added. "We still have Kevin O'Brien and he's a great player. At the beginning (of the season), we were disconnected and didn't talk that much. Now, we talk, we connect and have to communicate more. That's all we have to focus on moving forward."
Grayslake North (3-1-0, 1-0-0) has been beaten by its rival the last couple of years in PKs.
It really looked like the grueling match would be settled with a tie. Due to a change in the conference rules this season, the league will not play overtime or use shootouts to determine a winner. If games are tied after 80 minutes, they go in the book as a draw.
Grayslake North made that a moot point. The Knights had a corner kick in the final minute. On the play, there was a foul near the top of the box where Matthew Heery was taken down and a PK was awarded.
Heery connected on the spot shot for the game-winning goal with 55 seconds left.
"It was huge, especially in the last minute of the game," said Heery, who scored his second goal of the season and was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. "I had to do as much as a can to help my team win. I tried not to have any nerves when I go up there. I knew where I wanted to go the entire time, and I just placed it there."
Each team had limited scoring chances in the game.
"We've had tight matchups like this one," Grayslake North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "That's what we expect out of this game. (Grayslake Central) outworked us and played one heck of a game. I consider us to be very fortunate to get the result. It was a typical Grayslake battle. It's fight, it's energy and fortunately we got one at the end there."
Grayslake North didn't start the way it wanted to but picked up steam.
"One of the things we've been working on is our constancy," DeCaluwe said. "We played really well throughout portions of the season so far against a couple of tough teams. We really proved to ourselves that we can play. For whatever reason, we don't come out with that energy with urgency from the start.
"We have an inexperienced group. We do have a good amount of seniors but a number were JV players last year that are new to this level. They are learning about the speed, physicality and struggling a little bit with confidence. We matched up with a good team (Grayslake Central) who had a good result against Warren the other day. It's taking a little bit of time for our guys to realize that we can play our game."
Starting lineups
Grayslake Central
GK-Alexis Garcia Perez
D-James Rohlfing
D-Kevin O'Brien
D-Mitchell Kocialkowski
D-Caschu Model
MF-Thomas Ramsey
MF-Dani Orozco
MF-Ozzy Gayton
MF-Owen Aaberg
F-Peder Harvey
F-Jack Kulis
Grayslake North
GK-Tyler Clausen
D-Edwin De ita Cruz
D-Omar Cordova
D-Amir Kherzai
D-Nikolaus Schultze
MF-Jack Moran
MF-Angel Uriostegui
MF-Logan Holevas
MF-Matthew Heery
F-Sam Inmon
F-William Meyer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Matthew Heery, sr., MF, Grayslake North
Referee-Vitali Hantsevich; assistant referees, Mark Clark, Mike Conklin
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
GN: Heery, PK, 80th minute