Trojan soccer reaches sectional finals

Posted 10/30/24

CHILLICOTHE- There’s an old saying, “It’s not how you start, but how you finish.” The Mendota boys’ soccer team can attest to that statement.

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Trojan soccer reaches sectional finals

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CHILLICOTHE- There’s an old saying, “It’s not how you start, but how you finish.” The Mendota boys’ soccer team can attest to that statement.

More often than not this season, the Trojans have been slow out of the gate in the first half of their games, and then in the second half it’s like they flip on a switch and off they go.

That was clearly evident in Mendota’s sectional semifinal game against Beardstown as its precarious one-goal lead at intermission turned into a dominating 5-0 victory over the Tigers in the Chillicothe IVC Class 1A Sectional Soccer Tournament on Oct. 26.

The win upped the Trojans’ record to 22-2-1 and vaulted them into the sectional championship game against Peoria Christian on Wednesday at 6 p.m. If Mendota comes out on top in the sectional final, it would meet either Aurora Central Catholic or Richmond-Burton in the Mendota Super-Sectional at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 at the MHS field for a right to play in the state tournament.

Beardstown had the first real opportunity to score less than 10 minutes into the game, but Mendota goalie Mateo Goy reacted quickly to the shot to deny a possible Tiger goal.

The game continued scoreless with the clock ticking down under the 14-minute mark when things got crowded around the Mendota goal, but the Trojan defense was able to clear the ball without any harm. Then within a flash, Mendota had the ball down at the other end of the field and the Trojans’ Isaac Diaz broke into the clear and drove home the first goal of the game with 13:02 left before intermission. The half ended with Mendota up, 1-0.

“It would’ve been nice from a nerve standpoint to get one (goal) a lot sooner than we did to start the game,” said Mendota coach Nick Myers. “We did discuss a lot before the game that the first five minutes are important. We didn’t want to give up a silly goal, we wanted to get into the game and go from there, and I thought we did that.

“I thought we dominated possession, we just struggled to put one in, but I was happy with the way we played, and then once we got that first one, I think the nerves kind of went away a little bit for our guys.”

Beardstown had a great opportunity to tie the game 10 minutes into the second half with a penalty kick, but the ball bounced directly to Goy to keep the Tigers off the board.

Less than a minute later, the Trojans doubled their lead when Diaz headed in the ball at the 29:19 mark.

Six minutes elapsed without a goal, then Mendota tallied twice within a 33-second span to take control. Johan Cortez found the back of the net from about 25-feet out, then Cesar Casas tacked on another Trojan goal when the Beardstown goalie left the crease to come out for the ball and left the goal wide open for Casas, who rolled it in.

Mendota added one more goal for good measure when Danny Garcia scored with 3:34 left in the game.

“We knew Beardstown had three guys up front that had some speed and were fairly decent, so I think our guys were focused on those three,” added Myers. “We dominated the middle of the field and didn’t allow their offensive players to touch the ball.

“Defensively, I thought we played great. Mauricio Martinez played a heckuva game and saved us quite a few times. When they would break through on the wings, he was able to come over and bail us out.”