Boys soccer: Tough state semifinal loss for St. Edward
EAST PEORIA - Monmouth-Roseville did what no one else had been able to do all season - shut out St. Edward's potent offense.
The Titans posted a 2-0 victory over St. Edward in Friday's IHSA Class 1A state boys soccer semifinals to emerge as the only one of three schools in the Final Four hoping for a first state title.
Monmouth-Roseville (21-3-3) faces Alton Marquette (16-6-3) in the 5 p.m. championship Saturday at the EastSide Center in East Peoria. The Green Wave (26-2) hope to become one of two schools that end the season with a victory when they face Chicago Acero Garcia (16-6-2) in the 3 p.m. consolation game.
It will be a final chance for A.J. Franklin to add to his 69 goals and take a shot at the state single-season scoring record since the loss also marked the first time the Wave standout failed to score in 28 matches.
"I guess if we have to be shut out, it comes on the biggest stage," St. Edward coach Tim Brieger said. "I told the team if I made a list with two columns, one with all the stuff they did right and the other with things they did bad, that second column would still be empty. I'm that proud of them.
"Hats off to (Monmouth), they're a senior-laden team and it showed. Their goalie made two phenomenal saves on A.J. in both halves," Brieger added. "Coming in I knew whoever made the most of their chances would win and they capitalized on theirs."
"Everyone gave it their all," St. Edward's Will Gaston said. "We just need to forget this loss and come back tomorrow swinging with the same intensity."
St. Edward dominated the majority of the first half with Monmouth-Roseville's first overall shot coming after 28:57 on a way wide attempt. But with 31:51, Erick Suarez set the ball for Gilberto Vazquez, whose 12-yard high-arching header caught Evan Sajtar a little too far off his line. That was the Titans' lone shot on goal.
Unfortunately for the Green Wave, the three of seven overall shots that were on target were saved by Monmouth-Roseville keeper Edgar Mora-Sanchez. Ultimately, the Titan goalie made 7 saves for the match as St. Edward owned a 14-10 advantage for overall attempts and a 7-4 edge in shots on goal.
In the second half, Vazquez capitalized on a breakaway for a 1-v-1 with Sajtar and the Titan scoring leader managed to slip it past. The two goals boosted his season total to 26.
"I just focused on getting the shots on target," Vazquez said.
"He had an excellent game," Monmouth-Roseville coach Aaron Sikorski said. "We feel we've run a gauntlet of strong teams and hope we have one more left in us. At half, we talked about there being too many gaps between our defenders and midfield, so we wanted to tighten that up and it was necessary. They started launching some from distance and we were getting a little nervous."