Girls Soccer: Waukegan stuns Grayslake Central; Grant beats Round Lake
Updated: March 27, 2012 9:12PM
Grant defeated Round Lake 2-0 and Waukegan shocked host Grayslake Central on PKs after a scoreless tie Tuesday on Day 2 of the Grayslake Central Invitational.
Grant is now 2-0 in the four-team round-robin event while Waukegan and Grayslake are both 1-1.
Grant can win the title two ways on Wednesday — by beating Grayslake or by losing by one or two goals and having Waukegan beat Round Lake, which would give Grant the title on a complicated tiebreaker system.
Grayslake will be champ for the fourth straight time if it beats Grant by three or more goals and Waukegan beats Round Lake (0-2).
Though Grant has had two clean sheets in as many matches, the story of the tourney was Waukegan’s victory.
“These girls brought it. They brought their A-game,” Waukegan coach Jose Fernandez said. “Today, they really showed it. They showed that they can play as a team, that they do have skills.”
In the end, the hero was sophomore keeper Ita Montano, who stopped the last two of Grayslake’s six PKs. The first stop kept Waukegan alive and the second was the game-decider.
“She’s young. Right now, we’re just trying to build her confidence with every game,” Fernandez said. “I think this win is huge, because it will really help with that confidence. The team is right behind her now. They have her back, and I think they’re comfortable with her back there now.”
In the first match Tuesday, Round Lake made it a game against Grant, thanks to the play of Panther keeper Cristina Melesio.
Grant got on the board in the 26th minute when freshman Jenna Pecorini connected with fellow freshman Marissa Allen at the top of the box. Allen one-timed a rocket past Melesio for her second goal of the tournament.
Melesio was superb for the second game in a row, with the majority of her 11 saves coming on quality chances. But the Panthers’ offense generated only two shots on goal for the game.
Sophomore Nina Deligio added an insurance goal for Grant, her second of the tournament, in the 58th minute when she banged home a rebound following Melesio’s diving save on an Alyssa Wilhelm shot.
“It was a sloppy game overall. That happens when you’re throwing girls into new positions,” Grant coach Mike Kennedy said. “We put Deligio up front today and she once again follows up a shot and gets a rebound goal. We just need to work on being patient when we’re finishing. I think we rushed a lot of our shots, and weren’t getting as many quality opportunities as we would like.”
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