Davis a key as Central tops North

North's Josh Solberg Aldaco (left) battles Central's Ryan Schapals near the goal during last Thursday's showdown. The Rams won the game 2-0.
(Joe Shuman/For Pioneer Press)

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There was not much to celebrate early in the season for the young Grayslake Central boys soccer team. But that changed last Thursday night when the Rams upended rival Grayslake North.

The Knights (9-3) entered the game as the favorite. The team features a number of seniors, while Central is still trying to overcome the loss of all 11 starters from a year ago.

But the Rams (4-8-2 as of Tuesday) have a dangerous weapon in the long throw of senior Michael Davis. The throw-in was even more effective on North's narrow pitch, and it led directly to both of Central's goals in a 2-0 victory.

The first goal came 20 minutes into the contest when Davis' toss found freshman Caleb Longenecker, who scored his 3rd of the season. Ryan Williams' strike 20 minutes into the second half also came from a Davis throw.

Central recorded its second shutout of the season and snapped an eight-game winless streak.

"We showed a lot of heart," Central head coach Mike McCaulou said. "(North) has more experience with 11 or 12 seniors this year. They return every one of their starters and we didn't return a single starter. When you think of that, it's a really good win. They are our rival, so it's always nice to beat them."

The young Rams are often smaller than their opponents and that was once again the case against North. However, McCaulou was proud of the way his troops battled throughout the contest.

"We've struggled physically because of our size. At the varsity level, the game is so fast and the kids are so much bigger and stronger and it's tough to win the 50/50 balls. We have gotten knocked off the ball because of our size, but we took over the North game physically and that was surprising. But it was a pleasant surprise."

The Rams had little time to celebrate the victory as they turned around and played in the Vernon Hills Tournament just a day later.

They opened that event with a 2-0 win over the host Cougars as Davis and Williams (the team's two leading scorers with 5 goals apiece) each bulged the old onion bag. Victor Cruz and Jeremy Betke picked up assists.

The following day, Central dispatched Northridge Prep 2-1 on goals from Jose Roman and Jeremy Betke.

Zion-Benton got the better of the Rams 2-0 in Saturday's championship game.

On Monday against Prairie Ridge, a last-second goal by the Rams' Justus Depke evened the score and sent the game into overtime. However, the Wolves scored the sudden-death winner 6 minutes into the first extra frame.

McCaulou has been pleased with his team's recent play and said the Rams are starting to do a better job of playing together as a unit, something important because the team lacks the skilled individual players it had in recent seasons.

"In order to put pressure on other teams, we have to play together," McCaulou said.

Meanwhile, North has gotten back on track. The Knights defeated Johnsburg 2-1 on Tuesday behind first-half goals from prolific sophomore Julio Zamora and senior Jeremy Leanna. Junior Mark Nethercote picked up both assists. Senior Josh Larson made 16 stops in the net.

"We came out much more aggressively today and it really showed by how much we controlled the tempo of the game," North head coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "We really showed some more signs of getting back to the way we began the season, working incredibly hard off the ball and getting the results because of it."