Tuesday Semifinals: Top-seeded Mount Morris rolls out strong, clinch D2 Finals berth behind 5-0 blank of No. 4 Hinsdale; Rebello heroically lifts No. 3 Houghton Academy towards 1st Finals since 2003
PERRY — The No. 4 Bobcats of Hinsdale were met with a fast and furious beginning of Tuesday evening by top-seeded Mount Morris in their Class D2 Semifinal battle in Perry, as the Blue Devils took advantage of nearly everything that came their way to provide an electric first half that saw them propel into the lead for good, en route to a 5-0 shutout to move onto Friday’s Finals.
Mount Morris was able to set the tone fairly quickly against Hinsdale (7-9-1) with a big 3-0 lead at the break, adding two more pieces of insurance in the first 10 minutes of play in the second half to seal the victory up, ultimately for good.
In-depth statistics were not made available to report upon publication.
The season is over for the Bobcats, as they wrap up their campaign with a record of 7-9-1 overall.
Class D2 Semifinals
No. 2 Houghton Academy 2, No. 3 Northstar 1
GENESEO — They have been the thorn in Houghton Academy’s side not only this season, but as well as the last.
No. 3 Northstar has held possession the number of the Panthers ever since their head-to-head meetings came into fruition a season ago, garnering wins in all four meetings thus far.
The hope for the Knights was to prove that third time can be the charm. Instead, it would wind up being a battle that would come straight down to the wire in what was their closest horn-locking yet, with a trip to the Class D2 Finals on the line Tuesday night at Geneseo.
Head coach Jeff Prentice knew what was at stake for his second-seeded Panthers. It was just a matter of holding Northstar at a standstill.
“You have to know your path forward. They beat us in a 5-1 game up there that we didn’t not play well in at all, and then a 4-1 game down at home where we played some better soccer,” he said. “We played them pretty evenly that time around, and there were some moments. We were able to start tightening things together. This has been the best we’ve played all season, and because of that, we were able to hold their moments in check while creating some of our own after some adjustments.”
Just one of those moments for Houghton Academy? How about a Pedro Rebello game-winner?
With the game all tied at one with very minimal time remaining in regulation, Rebello went for it all off a corner kick on the near side. With Lucas Matias sending it in on the Northstar cage, the Houghton Academy clutch scorer soared above the rest of the bodies in front of the Knights cage to head in an incredible corner with 3:29 left to play, giving the Panthers the goal they needed to finally exact revenge against the No. 3 seeds with their first trip to the Finals in 19 years with a 2-1 victory.
“It was a corner that Pedro knocked in from about a foot or two away from the post in front. He lifted it perfectly, and it was an amazing shot,” Prentice said. “He’s been doing that all year for us. We outplayed them most of the game, but they really started to go crazy in the last 10 minutes, and we were barely able to hold on. To get that goal in the last minutes to keep Northstar off of us, that was exciting to say the least.”
How the Panthers (12-5-1) got there was after breaking a late second half tie with Northstar after they originally opened up the scoring with a 1-0 lead at the break to work with, as Brian Patipewe was the first to score on the first of Matias’ two assists coming near midway of the opening half.
The lead for Houghton Academy would hold all the way down to the wire when Northstar found their way onto the board through the Panthers defense with Lorenzo Danesi connecting with the game-tying tally off a Justin Robinson pass on the way in to deadlock the game at one on each side with 12 minutes left to go.
Momentum was created by the Knights after tying the game, as they continued to push the Panthers closer and closer to the edge with time in regulation beginning to run out. But in the clutch, they would remain resilient, as Matias’ biggest assist of the night came at no better time to take the lead back. With 3:29 left to play, Rebello was able to put away the game with one hit off the head, scoring the game-winning goal off the massive corner kick chance to send Houghton Academy to their first Class D2 Final since 2003.
The two goals for Houghton Academy came off just three shots, as Northstar outshot the Panthers by a 9-3 count. In net, Marco Zanini made eight saves to pick up the victory.
On Friday, the Panthers will now go for it all in their first trip to the Finals in nearly two decades, with the chance of capturing their first Class D2 Championship in the same swing, as they now get set to square off against top-seeded Mount Morris back up north in Perry, beginning at 5 p.m.
The Class D1 Final between Harley Allendale-Columbia and Fillmore will follow after the conclusion, at 7:30 p.m.
“I haven’t seen a whole lot from Mount Morris, but they look fast, quick, aggressive. They love to pressure and take advantage of the turnovers,” said Prentice. “We have to play as great of a game as we did today. For a school like us to make their first Finals in a long time, it’s incredible. These kids love to play soccer, and some of them had a distant goal to try and get this far. To see it all come together, and it doesn’t happen very often, you could tell that the kids wanted it. We had some struggles early on, but every game we’ve built more confidence. They’re definitely believers now.”
GIRLS SOCCER
Class C2 Semifinals
No. 3 Wheatland-Chili 2, No. 7 Bolivar-Richburg 1
WARSAW — The magic carpet ride for the No. 7 Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg arrived in Warsaw on Tuesday.
With it, came a task. Their last before the Finals threshold could be crossed — a chance to take down one of Section V’s perennial powerhouses: The No. 3 Lady Wildcats of Wheatland-Chili.
Bolivar-Richburg would give them everything they could handle, especially down the stretch, but a fast first half start for the Lady Wildcats was all they needed to get the room they wanted to work with.
Wheatland-Chili came out of the gates firing on all cylinders with an immediate tone-setter, as Chyene Whitcomb scored just minutes after the opening kick at center to garner the game’s first lead. With it, the Lady Wildcats held the momentum in their favor going into the second half, adding to it with insurance to keep the Lady Wolverines at bay to force elimination in their Class C2 Semifinal battle with a 2-1 triumph.
“I could not have asked for more out of my players this season,” Lady Wolverines coach Brooke Lovell said. “We have had our ups and downs, but they always seemed to be able to respond to adversity. I have enjoyed coaching this group of girls, and I will miss our seniors next year dearly. McKinlee and Madigan (Harris), Madison (Carney), Kyla (Gayton), Malayna (Ayers) and Allison (Zilker) have all been an integral part of this program. They will be missed.”
Off to a scorching-hot blaze were the Lady Wildcats in the first three minutes of the game, as they broke the ice almost immediately after the first kick at center with Whitcomb’s score off of the first of two helpers from Alison Farrell. The lead would hold across a midfield battle in the opening half until the Lady Wolverines (10-9) were able to provide a game-tying response from Madigan Harris, as she collected a ball down the sidelines, racing in on goal for the score in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
The tie would hold, as both teams raged on through the pitch with a 1-1 tally on the board waiting to be broken. That would come with nearly 10 minutes left to play, as Farrell sent along one more crucial pass to Emily Parker for her to finish off what would be the go-ahead, and eventual game-winner for the Lady Wildcats to send Bolivar-Richburg home, ending their fairy tale story through the Class C2 playoffs.
The goal from Harris was just one of three shots in the battle, as Wheatland-Chili outshot Bolivar-Richburg by an 8-3 total count. In goal, Kyla Gayton would make six saves.
The Cinderella story for the Lady Wolverines is now over, as they wrap up a fine 2022 season with a record of 10-9 overall.
The team will graduate six integral parts to their puzzle at the end of the year, in the Harris siblings — McKinlee and Madigan, Kyla Gayton, Malayna Ayers, Madison Carney and Allison Zilker.
