Class AA state preview
By Curt Herron
While Grayslake Central's 14-6-2 record might not match up to others in the Class AA Final Four field, the Rams are definitely a dangerous team considering how they've fared during the postseason.
The last three wins have come via shutout. They include a 1-0 supersectional victory over Notre Dame in Grayslake and a 2-0 win over Crystal Lake South in the Vernon Hills Sectional title match that denied the Gators a chance for a third-straight trip to the Class AA Final Four. Both of those teams were top seeds in their sectionals.
Grayslake Central has outscored playoff opponents by a 12-1 margin and became
the first team in their program's history to advance to the IHSA finals.
The Rams meet Triad (24-0-1), which was the no. 2 team in final regular-season Illinois 10 ranking of schools outside of the Chicagoland area. After that 1 p.m. semifinal Friday at Hoffman Estates High School, Illinois 10 top-ranked Boylan (25-1-0) faces
Washington (18-4-2) from the Chicago Public League. The winner of each match advances to Saturday's 3 p.m. championship.
First-year Grayslake Central coach Keith Andersson's team lost their first four matches of the season, three against high-quality Class 3A teams, but followed that with a 9-0-1 record in its next 10 matches.
Junior forward Daniel Marynevych leads the team with 20 goals and has three assists. His brother, senior forward/midfielder Marko, is the team leader with 15 assists and has three goals. Just behind him in assists is sophomore midfielder/defender Mitchell Fine, who has 14 assists to go along with four goals.
Other top contributors for Grayslake Central include: junior forward Cameron Paul (eight goals, five assists) and junior midfielder Raymond Sereno (six goals, one assist).
Sophomore goalkeeper Uriel Garcia Perez has a 0.91 GAA and has made 119 saves in 22 matches. Team captains are senior defender/midfielder Ben Berry, junior defender Lucas Veenstra and the elder Marynevych.
Click here to see Grayslake Central’s team page on Chicagoland Soccer
Triad played to a 1-1 draw in its season opener on August 25 against Collinsville, which came up just short of advancing to the Class 3A finals. The Knights haven't done anything but win since then. They have only allowed nine goals this season and just six in their last 21 matches, which has featured 16 shutouts.
They've outscored their five playoff opponents by a 21-0 margin, defeating Mascoutah 3-0 in its own sectional final and then captured a shootout victory over previously undefeated Urbana in the Glenwood Supersectional.
Coach Jim Jackson is 142-58-17 in nine seasons leading the Knights. The team's best showing under him came in 2019 when they went 22-2-3 and placed third in Class AA, which equaled the trophy they earned in their other state tournament appearance in 2009.
Leading the way for Triad is senior midfielder Jake Ellis, who notched a team-high 24 goals while handing out 10 assists. Other top scorers include: junior forward Tobey Suter (15 goals, 13 assists); sophomore forward Wyatt Suter (14 goals, nine assists); senior defender Roger Weber (14 goals, five assists); and junior defender Jake Stewart (13 goals, 21 assists).
Seniors David DuPont (0.14 GAA) and Brayden Tonn (0.60 GAA) are the Titans' primary goalkeepers. Ellis and Weber are the team captains.
Another team that is back at state for the third time is Washington, which beat topped top-seed Payton 1-0 in the Brother Rice Supersectional to advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 2015, when the Patriots placed fourth.
Patriots coach Alvaro Perez reached the 300-win mark when his squad beat Kankakee 3-0 in a Marist Sectional semifinal. He owns a 302-127-31 record in his 27 years as the school's head coach. The highlight came in 2013 in the form of a Class AA state championship.
Washington has gone 10-1-0 down the stretch. The lone loss came against Payton in the Chicago Public League tournament championship. The squad has outscored
its five postseason opponents by a 12-4 margin.
Senior defender/midfielder Julian Martinez leads the Patriots in both goals (25) and assists (14). Other offensive producers are: senior defender/forward; Angelo Williams (nine goals, seven assists); senior midfielder Angel Larios (seven goals); senior defender/forward Lenardo Solis (four goals, nine assists); sophomore midfielder Christian Aparicio (three goals); sophomore midfielder Raul Flores (three goals); and senior midfielder Ricardo Perez (three goals).
Senior Brayan Lozano and junior Samuel Cruz have both played in 20 or more matches in goal.
Boylan has the most tournament experience in the field, advancing for the 11th time with its last trip in 2010 when it won the Class 3A title, the best finish for a program that has played in three title matches.
Like Triad, Boylan's only blemish on its record came in its opener when it dropped a 2-1 decision to Huntley, which fell to York in the Class 3A Streamwood Supersectional.
The Titans advanced to the state semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Morton (Ill.) in the Lewis University Supersectional in which they allowed their first goal of the postseason. They've outscored their playoff opponents by a 22-1 margin.
Boylan has allowed only 11 goals throughout the campaign and has recorded 18 shutouts, including a 5-0 win over Marmion in the Hinsdale South Sectional final. In their last 18 matches, the Titans have allowed just four goals.
Senior forward Bryan Sanchez leads the team in both goals and assists with 23 in each column. The team also receives solid offense from: senior forward Jack Bonavia (20 goals, 13 assists); senior midfielder Taylor Sowell (18 goals, 18 assists); junior midfielder
Victor Ibarra (13 goals, 11 assists); and sophomore midfielder Jovanny Millan
(six goals, five assists).
Senior goalkeeper Alyas Fritz has a 0.48 GAA and made 73 saves in 23 matchesfor coach Bart Boguszewski, who is 34-2-0 in his second season as the Titans coach.
By Curt Herron
While Grayslake Central's 14-6-2 record might not match up to others in the Class AA Final Four field, the Rams are definitely a dangerous team considering how they've fared during the postseason.
The last three wins have come via shutout. They include a 1-0 supersectional victory over Notre Dame in Grayslake and a 2-0 win over Crystal Lake South in the Vernon Hills Sectional title match that denied the Gators a chance for a third-straight trip to the Class AA Final Four. Both of those teams were top seeds in their sectionals.
Grayslake Central has outscored playoff opponents by a 12-1 margin and became
the first team in their program's history to advance to the IHSA finals.
The Rams meet Triad (24-0-1), which was the no. 2 team in final regular-season Illinois 10 ranking of schools outside of the Chicagoland area. After that 1 p.m. semifinal Friday at Hoffman Estates High School, Illinois 10 top-ranked Boylan (25-1-0) faces
Washington (18-4-2) from the Chicago Public League. The winner of each match advances to Saturday's 3 p.m. championship.
First-year Grayslake Central coach Keith Andersson's team lost their first four matches of the season, three against high-quality Class 3A teams, but followed that with a 9-0-1 record in its next 10 matches.
Junior forward Daniel Marynevych leads the team with 20 goals and has three assists. His brother, senior forward/midfielder Marko, is the team leader with 15 assists and has three goals. Just behind him in assists is sophomore midfielder/defender Mitchell Fine, who has 14 assists to go along with four goals.
Other top contributors for Grayslake Central include: junior forward Cameron Paul (eight goals, five assists) and junior midfielder Raymond Sereno (six goals, one assist).
Sophomore goalkeeper Uriel Garcia Perez has a 0.91 GAA and has made 119 saves in 22 matches. Team captains are senior defender/midfielder Ben Berry, junior defender Lucas Veenstra and the elder Marynevych.
Click here to see Grayslake Central’s team page on Chicagoland Soccer
Triad played to a 1-1 draw in its season opener on August 25 against Collinsville, which came up just short of advancing to the Class 3A finals. The Knights haven't done anything but win since then. They have only allowed nine goals this season and just six in their last 21 matches, which has featured 16 shutouts.
They've outscored their five playoff opponents by a 21-0 margin, defeating Mascoutah 3-0 in its own sectional final and then captured a shootout victory over previously undefeated Urbana in the Glenwood Supersectional.
Coach Jim Jackson is 142-58-17 in nine seasons leading the Knights. The team's best showing under him came in 2019 when they went 22-2-3 and placed third in Class AA, which equaled the trophy they earned in their other state tournament appearance in 2009.
Leading the way for Triad is senior midfielder Jake Ellis, who notched a team-high 24 goals while handing out 10 assists. Other top scorers include: junior forward Tobey Suter (15 goals, 13 assists); sophomore forward Wyatt Suter (14 goals, nine assists); senior defender Roger Weber (14 goals, five assists); and junior defender Jake Stewart (13 goals, 21 assists).
Seniors David DuPont (0.14 GAA) and Brayden Tonn (0.60 GAA) are the Titans' primary goalkeepers. Ellis and Weber are the team captains.
Another team that is back at state for the third time is Washington, which beat topped top-seed Payton 1-0 in the Brother Rice Supersectional to advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 2015, when the Patriots placed fourth.
Patriots coach Alvaro Perez reached the 300-win mark when his squad beat Kankakee 3-0 in a Marist Sectional semifinal. He owns a 302-127-31 record in his 27 years as the school's head coach. The highlight came in 2013 in the form of a Class AA state championship.
Washington has gone 10-1-0 down the stretch. The lone loss came against Payton in the Chicago Public League tournament championship. The squad has outscored
its five postseason opponents by a 12-4 margin.
Senior defender/midfielder Julian Martinez leads the Patriots in both goals (25) and assists (14). Other offensive producers are: senior defender/forward; Angelo Williams (nine goals, seven assists); senior midfielder Angel Larios (seven goals); senior defender/forward Lenardo Solis (four goals, nine assists); sophomore midfielder Christian Aparicio (three goals); sophomore midfielder Raul Flores (three goals); and senior midfielder Ricardo Perez (three goals).
Senior Brayan Lozano and junior Samuel Cruz have both played in 20 or more matches in goal.
Boylan has the most tournament experience in the field, advancing for the 11th time with its last trip in 2010 when it won the Class 3A title, the best finish for a program that has played in three title matches.
Like Triad, Boylan's only blemish on its record came in its opener when it dropped a 2-1 decision to Huntley, which fell to York in the Class 3A Streamwood Supersectional.
The Titans advanced to the state semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Morton (Ill.) in the Lewis University Supersectional in which they allowed their first goal of the postseason. They've outscored their playoff opponents by a 22-1 margin.
Boylan has allowed only 11 goals throughout the campaign and has recorded 18 shutouts, including a 5-0 win over Marmion in the Hinsdale South Sectional final. In their last 18 matches, the Titans have allowed just four goals.
Senior forward Bryan Sanchez leads the team in both goals and assists with 23 in each column. The team also receives solid offense from: senior forward Jack Bonavia (20 goals, 13 assists); senior midfielder Taylor Sowell (18 goals, 18 assists); junior midfielder
Victor Ibarra (13 goals, 11 assists); and sophomore midfielder Jovanny Millan
(six goals, five assists).
Senior goalkeeper Alyas Fritz has a 0.48 GAA and made 73 saves in 23 matchesfor coach Bart Boguszewski, who is 34-2-0 in his second season as the Titans coach.