Herscher, St. Anne advance to meet in Saturday’s regional championship

The stage is set for the championship match in the IHSA Class 1A Herscher Regional.

The host Tigers shut out Bishop McNamara 6-0 in the first of Tuesday’s semifinals. A couple hours later, St. Anne took down Clifton Central 5-2 to punch its ticket to face Herscher at 10 a.m. Saturday.

For the Tigers (15-6-2), Jacob Benoit, Luis Parra and Rowan Keigher each netted a pair of goals in the win while the defense secured the team’s 10th shutout of the season.

Tuesday was also the coldest night of the season so far, with the wind chill dipping into the low 40s. And with the occasional drizzle and wind gusts over 20 miles per hour, senior defender Connor Buckley said the team did a better job controlling the ball as the game went on.

“We came out a little slow at the start,” he said. “I felt in the second half we were doing much better moving the ball and connecting those short, little passes with the wind. Going long was not an option tonight with how strong those winds were.”

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Herscher's Jacob Benoit, left, and Rowan Keigher, right, take the ball from Bishop McNamara's Diego Perez, center, in a regional match-up on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. (Nicholas Holstein for Shaw Local)

Tuesday’s win saw Herscher get back to the regional championship after a one-year absence. A season ago, their quest for a third straight regional title was snapped with a semifinal loss to Coal City.

A win will give the program its 10th regional in the last 13 seasons, but the first for head coach Hugo Hernandez in his rookie season in the role.

“I told the boys from day one, ‘whoever is in our way, everyone wants to keep playing, and everybody, to us, is the No. 1 team in the state,’” Hernandez said. “That’s how you take care of these teams.”

For Bishop McNamara (3-20), the loss brought an end to an often-rocky season.

With head coach Myles Tryban joining the program just three weeks before the season started, and low roster numbers leaving the Fightin’ Irish shorthanded for much of the season, they lost the first 19 games of the season.

But they found their footing late, winning their final two games of the regular season before beating Iroquois West 6-0 in Saturday’s regional quarterfinals to finish the year with one more win than last season.

“That was our goal, to be better than last year,” Tryban said. “So I was super proud of them. For our seniors to keep coming back and pushing through, the resiliency they showed, the leadership they showed to a program that’s building to show that we need to keep showing up, even through hard times.”

St. Anne's Diego Guerrero, right, takes a shot as goal as Clifton Central's Ryder Williamson, left, defends in a regional match-up on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. (Nicholas Holstein for Shaw Local)

St. Anne stays hot in tremendous rebound season

The night’s second semifinal saw temperatures dip a little further, but St. Anne managed to stay hot with its eighth win in the last 10 games.

The Cardinals got a hat trick from freshman Diego Guerrero, with junior Erick Franco and senior Brigham Hays also scoring.

“I feel amazing,” Guerrero said. “I’m glad to be in the position I’m in right now. I’ve been doing well and I owe it to my teammates. They keep supporting me. If I miss shots, they help me get up and say I got it next time. It’s all about team work.”

While advancing to sectionals is something their opponent, Herscher, had done plenty of times, the Cardinals will be searching for their first regional title.

The chance to reach that milestone for the program comes toward the end of a season in which the Cardinals (14-8) have already won 13 more games than a season ago.

“I’m excited to be in this position,” head coach Neal Buck said. “To be honest, if you asked me at the end of last season if I thought this could happen, I would’ve told you no. But these guys have put in a ton of work. They have a ton of heart and a ton of grit to just keep playing.”

St. Anne's Brigham Hays, left, and Clifton Central's Logan Kuipers, right, scramble after a loose ball in the box after a block by Clifton Central during a regional match-up on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. (Nicholas Holstein for Shaw Local)

Clifton Central (6-16-1) went goal-for-goal with St. Anne in the second half, but was unable to dig out of a 3-0 hole from the first half.

Jesus Munoz got the Comets on the board on a penalty kick in the second half while Ashton Reiniche added a late goal.

“I think we played well, but in the first half we made a couple crucial mistakes and St. Anne capitalized,“ head coach Drew Granzow said. “In the second half we tied them 2-2, so we should’ve been right there neck-and-neck, but those mistakes in the first half killed us.”