Daniel Marynevych was in constant motion throughout the second half Tuesday night.
But the Grayslake Central junior forward really took flight following his first goal in the 46th minute of a Class 2A Vernon Hills Sectional semifinal.
Marynevych did his best airplane impersonation by running all the way from the goal box to the 40-yard line with his arms spread wide and then scored again in the second half to lead the third-seeded Rams to a 2-0 win over second-seeded Vernon Hills.
Grayslake Central (12-6-2) advances to play top-seeded Crystal Lake South (18-3-2) in the sectional championship game at noon Saturday. It will be the Rams’ first sectional final since losing 3-2 to Warren in Class AA in 2006 under Mike McCaulou, who now coaches Vernon Hills (12-5-3).
Marynevych, who also scored twice in a 3-1 win against Prairie Ridge in a regional final on Saturday and has 19 goals this season, said his first one Tuesday was a special moment after sitting out the first half with a hamstring injury.
“That’s my first time doing that celebration,” he said, laughing. “I don’t have a name for it. I was so incredibly happy because I was out the entire first half.”
Marynevych managed to beat Vernon Hills goalkeeper Raul Jasso to a loose ball and knocked a shot into the upper corner from 12 yards out for a 1-0 lead.
“I saw the goalie coming out, and I had my outside (right) foot option, so I tried to hit it in the slot, and it went in,” Marynevych said.
He kept his celebration a bit less glamorous after beating Jasso to a loose ball with 28:26 left in regulation.
Grayslake Central coach Keith Andersson said he’s never surprised by anything Marynevych does.
“He’s a game-changer,” Andersson said. “When you put Daniel in, he scores goals and creates havoc for teams. … He’s playing on 40% of a leg right now.”
Meanwhile, McCaulou praised his 13 seniors for guiding the program to their sixth regional title in eight years. The Cougars put the ball in the net twice in a three-minute span late in the first half, but both goals were waved off.
“We still don’t know what happened on those (two goals),” McCaulou said. “We knew (Marynevych) would come out and play hard. We lacked a bit of energy today, but I’m proud of the kids. We had a phenomenal senior group.”
Crystal Lake South 1, Carmel 0: Crystal Lake South scored the winning goal in the 66th minute of the first semifinal to end Carmel’s season.
The Corsairs (10-8-1) returned seven starters, including their entire back line, and won their first regional title since 2015, when they earned a Class 2A third-place trophy.
“It was a great season,” Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. “We haven’t had senior leadership like this. These senior leaders were fantastic. We had a pretty good season. It was nice to have everybody buying in. If you are going to lose, the other team earned a good goal. We came out with a good game plan, defended well and disrupted a lot of their set pieces and countering.
“They earned a good goal. I was happy that our goalie (Nick Magnone) had a good game. He stepped up with several big moments. He had over double-digit saves. Our captains were fantastic for us. We’re proud of the season. This was a banner year for us.”
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
