Mendota expects to ‘match up pretty well’ with Normal U-High

When the Mendota boys soccer team makes its first state appearance, the Trojans will face a team familiar with the state stage.

Mendota (24-2-1) will play Normal U-High (23-5-1) in the second Class 1A semifinal at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Hoffman Estates High School

The Pioneers were state runners-up last season and are making their sixth state appearance in program history.

“It’s our first time going, but we don’t want to just go to say we were there,” Mendota coach Nick Myers said. “We came into the season with the attitude that we wanted to go to state, and now it’s got to be that we want to win state.”

Normal U-High lost its top two goal scorers from last year but return seniors Noah Molitor and Owen Pacetti, who were contributors last fall with 10 goals each. This season Molitor has scored 44 goals with 11 assists, and Pacetti – who had a goal and an assist in the Pioneers’ state semifinal win last year – has nine goals and 24 assists.

Keaton Ash, who saw some time last season, is U-High’s second-leading scorer with 18 goals and eight assists.

“We’ve watched [Molitor] on film, and we can tell he’s very good,” Myers said. “He’s a taller, lengthier player. He looks pretty lethal. He moves around a lot, which, if I was coaching him, I’d love. When he makes a pass, he keeps moving. He’s hard to mark up.”

Myers said the Mendota defense, led by seniors Mauricio Martinez and Cameron Kelly, must communicate well with each other and goalkeeper Mateo Goy.

“Defensively we definitely have to be ready for him,” Myers said. “Communication is key. When we communicate very well, we’re very good defensively. It’s going to be a team effort to stop him, because he does rotate. He doesn’t just stay in the middle, he does move to both sides. We need a lot of communication from our back four to know where he’s at at all times.”

Defensively, the Pioneers have allowed 24 goals on the season, with five coming in a 5-0 loss to Peoria Notre Dame. U-High has recorded 13 shutouts.

“Defensively, they look very organized,” Myers said.

The Trojans will attack the U-High defense with a balanced offense featuring Cesar Casas (32 goals, 12 assists), Isaac Diaz (31 goals, nine assists), Johan Cortez (27 goals, 28 assists) and Sebastian Carlos (16 goals, nine assists).

“Watching their sectional final, Fisher really just had one guy up front, and they never really tried to help him,” Myers said. “We’re a little different animal to defend, because we don’t just have one or two guys. We have four guys, and they’re all different types of players, which makes it very hard to defend.

“When we’re able to possess the ball, hopefully that might cause U-High problems defensively.”

The Pioneers have cruised through the postseason, outscoring their five opponents 30-1 with none of their postseason games being decided by fewer than four goals.

Mendota, meanwhile, has outscored its postseason opponents 21-1, but the Trojans’ last two games have been tight with a 2-1 win over Peoria Christian and a 2-0 win over Aurora Central Catholic in a game that was a one-goal contest for the majority.

“They have not been tested yet in the postseason,” Myers said. “They’ve won every postseason game handily so far. We’re hoping maybe we can catch them off guard a little bit. We’ve been in that situation where you play a five- or six-game stretch where you’re not really tested, and then once you are, it’s kind of hard to get going.”

Mendota and U-High have a common opponent – Peoria Christian. The Trojans beat Peoria Christian 4-2 and 2-1 in the last three weeks, while the Pioneers lost 1-0 to the Chargers on Oct. 7.

“They lost to Peoria Christian a couple weeks ago, so I’m assuming they’re going to be very similar talent-wise to Peoria Christian,” Myers said. “I think if we come to play, we should match up pretty well.”