Girls soccer: Mendota shuts out Princeton, advances to regional final

MENDOTA – Corner kicks were a focus for the Mendota girls soccer team in practice in the days leading up to the postseason.

“We just don’t attack corners how we should, so we’ve been working on that, trying to get our girls in the right positions and getting them to want to attack the ball,” Mendota coach Nick Myers said.

The No. 3-seeded Trojans attacked on corner kicks Tuesday, scoring on a corner early in each half en route to a 3-0 victory over No. 8 Princeton in a Class 1A Mendota Regional semifinal.

“I think we were just in our positions, and we were there,” said Mendota sophomore Crystal Garcia, who scored on a corner 1:02 into the second half and added another goal with 5:42 left. “We were ready for the ball. We wanted it. We were hungry, and I think that played a big part in it.”

The Trojans (9-9-1) advance to play No. 2 Alleman (10-3-1) in the regional championship at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

“We were ready for the ball. We wanted it. We were hungry, and I think that played a big part in it.”

—  Crystal Garcia, Mendota sophomore

The Pioneers defeated No. 9 DePue-Hall 8-0 in Tuesday’s first semifinal.

“They’re very tough,” Myers said. “We knew that before the regional started. They’re a team that’s been to the supersectional last year. They play the game well. We can make very few mistakes Friday to stay in the game, but our girls are up for the challenge, and they believe they can win, so that’s what’s most important.

“As long as they believe we can win, we have a chance.”

Mendota is playing in a regional final a year after winning only one game.

“It feels really good,” Garcia said. “It was really tough last year. We truly gave it our all, but it just wasn’t a good season. This year, we worked in the offseason a lot, and it feels really good that all the hard work is paying off.

“We really improved our team bonding. This season, I feel like we’re more of a family, and that’s helped a lot. We bring each other up, and I think that has played a big part in all of our wins.”

On Tuesday, the Trojans got on the scoreboard early when Noemi Arteaga sent a corner kick into the box, and Janelle Rodriguez poked it into the net.

The Trojans led 1-0 at halftime before doubling their lead when Garcia scored on another corner from Arteaga with 38:58 left in the match.

Kaley Siemer dribbled up the middle deep into Princeton territory before sneaking a pass behind the defense where Garcia controlled it and fired it into the back of the net for an insurance goal.

“I didn’t think the pass was going to get to me but it did, and then I just looked up and my first thought was, ‘Place it right,’ ” Garcia said. “I looked where the goalie was, and I just placed it, and it went in.”

The Tigresses never got much of an offensive attack going. Mendota controlled possession much of the match.

“There was some good and some bad,” Princeton coach David Gray said. “We’re a team that’s had a lot of girls thrust into positions they’re not used to playing, and we’re not really experienced. The inexperience shows up as inconsistency, and that’s what we saw through most of the year and tonight. There were moments where we figured things out and played pretty well for a while, and then there were moments where we broke down and made mistakes, and Mendota capitalized on them.”

The loss ends an unlucky season for the Tigresses, who finish 3-16 after losing career scoring leader Mariah Hobson and fellow starters Emma Kruse-Carter and Nora Schneider to season-ending injuries.

“You come into a year returning a decent number of starters from a regional championship squad, and three of those starters go down with season-ending injuries, that’s really hard to overcome,” Gray said. “It’s hard to overcome on the field, and it’s hard to overcome in ways that are immeasurable like mentally and emotionally. When you lose the quality and amount of players we lost, it’s hard to get yourself up all the time, and I think we saw some of that through the season. But I’m proud of the girls that kept showing up. They kept trying to learn and kept trying to improve.

“The younger girls know they have another season, so they were building toward that. It’s unfortunate for the seniors. I’m sure they were hoping for a better senior year, but they should be proud. They were part of sectional and regional title teams, so they had good careers. It just didn’t end the way they hoped.”