Westminster headed to sectional finals

Thursday proved to be an historic night for the Westminster Christian boys soccer program. The Warriors advanced past the second round of the state tournament and tied the school record for wins by defeating Hampshire 1-0 in the semifinals of the Class A Hampshire sectional.

Tyler Beachler's header with 6:18 left in the first half was the game's only goal. Ethan Flickinger and the Warriors' defense made it hold up.

The Warriors (13-9-3) will play Winnebago for the sectional championship Monday at 5 p.m.

It was a bittersweet moment for Hampshire coach Patrick O'Brien, who said that he will step down after the spring girls' season.

In the middle of the field, the sixth-seeded Warriors celebrated the historic victory.

"This is huge for the school," said Westminster coach Josh Guge. "We've never been past the second round, and to get through three rounds in a row is just unbelievable."

Beachler, injured 2 games ago, played sparingly, but was in long enough to score his 98th career goal on a great feed from Cory Hodge.

That was all the Warriors needed. The Westminster defense, led by Josh Gannon, Dan Graves, Solomon Post and Jon Sanders, blanketed Hampshire forwards Junior Makinde and Jose Lopez all night. Makinde was double and sometimes triple-teamed. And Flickinger in goal cleaned up anything that got through the back line.

Hampshire seemed tentative for much of the night.

"They just played as if they were afraid to lose," said O'Brien of the second-seeded Whip-Purs. "And you can't play that way. You play that way and you end up losing. I think, ultimately, that's pretty much what happened."

The Whip-Purs (14-7-2) did push up in the closing minutes. Flickinger stopped Javier Carrillo's shot from the deep corner late in the game. The Warriors' victory wasn't secured until Jacob Moeller broke up a last-ditch run by Lopez in the final minute.