Wheaton Academy takes fourth
Wheaton Academy did not want to play for third place Saturday morning. Rather, the Warriors expected to being taking the field with a Class 2A title on the line.
Instead, the Warriors once again found themselves in a third-place game, this time against Rochester, still trying to lick their wounds after Friday’s 2-1 loss to St. Ignatius, which was their second straight semifinal loss decided by penalty kicks.
As much as they tried to recover from Friday, the Warriors just weren’t able to get back on track, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Springfield-area school.
“The guys did a good job of doing whatever they could to get themselves up for this game,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. “It’s the hardest game I’ve ever had to coach in. I thought they did a great job of getting ready.”
Rochester (22-6) wasted little time in putting the Warriors in trouble, as Austin Bell took advantage of a couple of favorable bounces in the eighth minute.
“It’s a tough game to play in, but I wanted to have some fun,” he said. “I got a couple lucky deflections right to my foot and just poked it in.”
Cooper Fields played in a JD Pletsch pass in the 36th minutes to extend Rochester’s lead to 2-0 at halftime,
Late-season injuries to Michael Carver and Reid Culberson, and having them out of the lineup on Saturday, only made it more difficult for the Warriors to rally in the second half.
“I’m really proud of the individuals who stepped up and tried to fill those holes,” Brooke said. “We were kind of missing a little bit of our common attacking-possession style, and obviously we felt it even more once we got down 2-0.”
Wheaton Academy (22-5-1) cut its deficit in half in the 58th minute on a Daniel Berquist to Sam Hardy connection.
“A work-rate goal and it’s harder to create really dangerous plays using our wingers like we do,” Brooke said. “We got a little impatient and started playing a little more direct, which can happen when you’re down two goals.”
The Warriors will graduate nine seniors, but with consecutive state appearances — and both ending in heartbreaking fashion — next year’s returnees will look to capture that elusive state title.
“The thing that’s nice about this class is they’re really good and they also invest a lot (in each other),” Brooke said. “I’m sure next year you’ll see traces of these players in the juniors and sophomores and freshmen.”
Senior Marshall West was especially pleased with what the program has accomplished the past two years in reaching the Final Four, despite falling short of the ultimate goal.
“Extremely proud of the class I’m a part of,” he said. “We weren’t just looking to get down here, losing on penalty kicks, but it’s a pretty good feat, and I’m proud of what we did.”