Boys soccer: Mendota plays ‘best game’ in sectional semifinal

MENDOTA – After lackluster starts in its regular season finale and regional championship win, the Mendota boys soccer team focused on a strong start Wednesday.

In front of a large and loud home crowd, the Trojans got that start.

Mendota had several strong chances early and scored two first-half goals en route to a 4-0 victory over Peoria Christian in a Class 1A Mendota Sectional semifinal.

“This was our best game we’ve had all year,” Mendota coach Nick Myers said.

“Recently, we’ve been starting slow. We got down 1-0 to Rochelle in our last regular season game, and Alleman scored on us in the first minute in the regional final. We talked at length all week about how we’re in sectionals now, and we can’t start slow, get behind and expect to come back. The competition obviously gets better round by round.

“We came out tonight with a lot of intensity. Our composure was good. We communicated. We were more physical. I think we got to the ball before they did. We just came out super hyped, which is what we’ve been wanting to do, so I was very proud of that.”

Myers said playing at home with a lot of Mendota fans in the stands may have contributed to the early intensity.

“It was a great feeling,” Mendota senior Johnathan Cortez said about playing a sectional at home. “Having all the fans here was amazing. It was incredible support. I just can’t wait for Saturday. I’m expecting even more people, and it’s going to be great.”

The Trojans (18-6) will play Quincy Notre Dame (14-6-2) in the sectional final at 3 p.m. Saturday. Mendota beat QND 3-2 in the IVC Sectional final last season for the Trojans’ first sectional title.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Cortez said. “They’re a really solid team just like last year. It’s going to be really tough and intense, even more intense than today probably.

“We’re expecting to come out strong and hopefully get the result [we want].”

QND advanced with a 9-2 win over Serena in Wednesday’s first semifinal.

“Offensively, we played really well, and we’re going to need to do that Saturday,” Myers said. “Quincy is very potent offensively, but I think if we can get them on the counterattack with our offense it’ll be interesting to see how the game plays out.

“We watched them tonight. They’re a fantastic squad. They have quite a few players back from last year’s team that we saw in the sectional final. Tanner Anderson is a force up front. We’re going to have to know where he’s at at all times.

“It’s going to take probably a better effort than we had tonight, I think, to pull it off Saturday. But if we play like this and get the home crowd into it, I think we have a great chance to knock them off again.”

Freshman Johan Cortez got the Trojans on the board with a goal in the 13th minute, and senior Jasiel Watson blasted a shot off the hands of Peoria Christian keeper Josh Walton eight minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

After three yellow cards on Mendota in a four-minute span early in the second half, Johnathan Cortez got a pass from Watson and fired a shot, which was initially stopped by Walton. Cortez got his own rebound, however, and found the back of the net with 27:47 left.

Johnathan Cortez scored his second goal with 10:54 left when Watson flicked a pass over Walton and Cortez poked it into the goal.

“I think we just had a lot more fluidity,” Johnathan Cortez said. “We had a lot more movement out there, a lot more intensity, which is something we were lacking. Jasi and I have been playing together for the longest time, so we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so we do great up there. We finished our chances.”

Defensively, the Trojans held the Chargers to just three shots on goal.

“Our defense has been really good all year,” Myers said. “Rafa [Romero] is clutch for us in the middle. Mauricio [Martinez] and Kaleb [Kleckner] played excellent games. Any attack Peoria had they basically shut down.”