Boys soccer: Serena can’t slow down speedy Quincy Notre Dame in 1A sectional semifinal loss

MENDOTA — The Serena boys soccer team trailed by only a goal to a strong Quincy Notre Dame squad 15 minutes into Wednesday’s Class 1A Mendota Sectional semifinal.

But from there, the Raiders – who have outscored opponents 22-2 in the postseason and entered the contest after winning a seventh straight regional – pushed the accelerator to the floor.

Quincy Notre Dame, led by four goals from junior Leo Cann, built a four-goal lead at halftime and then scored four more times in the second half to end Serena’s historic season with a 9-2 triumph at Mendota High School.

“We won a regional, broke the school record for wins in a season, had a 15-game winning streak to start the year, recorded 10 shutouts and were 15-0 at home. So sure, tonight was a tough one, but this team has a lot of things to be proud of, and as a program, a lot of things to build on.”

—  Serena boys soccer coach Dean DeRango

The Huskers end the season with a sparkling 21-4 record, while QND (15-6-2) moves on to Saturday’s 3 p.m. championship game against the host Trojans - a 4-0 winner over Peoria Christian the in the second semifinal.

It was Serena’s first sectional appearance since 2015.

“People all season long have talked about the amount of team speed we have,” Serena coach Dean DeRango said. “But holy smokes, Quincy Notre Dame is fast, and they ran past us most of the game. We sure didn’t lose to an inferior team tonight. ... They’re pretty tough.”

The Raiders led 2-0 in the opening 10 minutes on goals from Cann and Cole Henkenmeier, but an “own goal” on a misdirected clear gave the Huskers a boost.

However, from there, QND received two more goals from Cann and held a 5-1 halftime advantage.

“It was a tough game tonight and not the outcome we wanted but (QND) is a really good team,” Serena senior Hudson Stafford said. “I’m obliviously sad the season is over, but like Cam said, our main goal was to win a regional championship. We also surpassed a number of school records as well and those are things that I’m proud of this being my last year playing high school soccer. Knowing that this was one of the best teams to ever play at Serena is a pretty nice feeling.”

The Raiders scored twice early in the second half before Serena sophomore Beau Raikes scored on an 18-yard floating shot off an assist from junior Tanner Faivre with 20 minutes remaining.

The play started near midfield with a steal and chip forward by junior Richie Armour. The ball deflected off a pair of Raiders’ defenders and to Faivre, who pushed a nifty pass back to Raikes for the shot. The kick eventually found its way past the diving QND keeper and into the bottom left corner of the cage.

“Juggling soccer and golf all the time this fall, and not always being able to practice with the team was tough,” Serena senior Camden Figgins said, one of a handful of two-sport athletes this fall for the Huskers. “But winning a regional in soccer was our number one goal and we were able to reach that. We knew tonight would be a tough one, but we kept playing hard until the very end. I’m proud to be part of this team.”

QND – which held a 29-4 margin in total shots, including 20-1 in on net chances – found the back of the net two more times in the final 15 minutes.

Serena junior keeper Carson Baker finished with 20 saves, with nearly half coming off point-blank shots or hard shots from the outside.

“We won a regional, broke the school record for wins in a season, had a 15-game winning streak to start the year, recorded 10 shutouts and were 15-0 at home,” DeRango said. “So sure, tonight was a tough one, but this team has a lot of things to be proud of, and as a program, a lot of things to build on.”