A total of 16 boys soccer teams, including some of the very best in the state, battled through a tough slate of competition at the Rivals Cup hosted by Manteno and Peotone throughout this past week.

By Saturday afternoon, only Manteno and Chicago Christian were alive for the championship. It was the first meeting for these two teams since Manteno beat the Knights in a shootout in last season’s Class 1A Manteno Sectional championship, but unfortunately for the Panthers, another win wasn’t in the cards.

The Panthers (10-5-3) scored the first goal about six minutes into the game Saturday, but Chicago Christian (13-5) tied it up two minutes later and pushed across a game-winner with about six minutes to go in the second half, holding on from there to beat the Panthers 2-1.

Although the Panthers did not end the week with a win, Manteno senior Ben Froeschle, who scored the team’s lone goal and was named to the All-Tournament team along with fellow senior Justin Foster, said there was plenty of valuable experience to be gained at the Rivals Cup.

“I think we want to come out and use this energy we got here from losing the final in the Rivals Cup and take it moving forward to sectionals and the state tournament,” he said.

Froeschle’s goal came after a corner kick off the leg of Eric Eldridge. It rattled around a bit in front of Chicago Christian goalkeeper Josh Sedakis before Froeschle poked it over the line.

Chicago Christian’s Casey Lenarz, who went on to be named Rivals Cup MVP, headed in a goal off a corner a few short minutes later.

Neither team scored for the final 22 minutes of the first half, although Eldridge had a strong chance that was steered away from the net by Sedakis.

Much of the second half went by without many scoring chances for either team, with Manteno goalkeeper Cayden Lacher making a strong save on a redirected kick with about 15 minutes to go in the game. He then made a leaping save with just under 10 minutes to go, deflecting the shot off the bottom of the crossbar and then scrambling to keep it from crossing the line.

But Chicago Christian managed to get one by Lacher in the final minutes on a header from Garrett Murphy off a pass from Kyle Derks.

Although the day ended with a tough loss, the Panthers did manage to pick up a big win earlier in the day, beating Coal City in a semifinal shootout after the two Illinois Central Eight Conference rivals went scoreless in regulation.

It was the second time in a nine-day span that Manteno managed to beat the Coalers in a shootout after a scoreless game, the first coming on Sept. 18 when the Panthers handed Coal City its first loss of the season.

With the Coalers going on to beat Peotone in the third-place game on Saturday, also in a shootout following a 0-0 tie, their two losses to Manteno remain the only blemishes on their record this season.

“It was really good,” Froeschle said. “They’re a strong team, but we persevered through it. And we finished out penalties luckily, and got away with the win.”

The high level of competition faced during the Rivals Cup is a good primer for postseason play, the start of which is already just under three weeks away.

It is especially for a team with aspirations for postseason success like Manteno, getting to face teams like Coal City, who they beat in the Class 1A Coal City Regional championship last season, and Chicago Christian can help build towards success come the end of October.

“I know after a championship loss, confidence may be a little low, but just reminding the boys that they played well this week,” Manteno coach Oscar Farfan said. “Yeah we didn’t come out on top, but there’s still a lot to play for going forward. We’ve got a conference championship we can still win, and then a regional as well. We’ve got the team to do it, it’s just moreso having the right mindset for it.”