After winning regional and sectional titles before falling in super-sectionals a season ago, Manteno came into the 2025 season looking to follow up what had been its most successful postseason since 2017.

With Saturday’s 3-0 win over Illinois Central Eight Conference rival Reed-Custer in the IHSA Class 1A Momence Regional championship, the Panthers (17-5-2) kept their dreams at another lengthy postseason run alive and repeated as regional champs for the first time in program history.

“It felt amazing,” senior Justin Foster said. “We’ve worked hard all summer and all season, so it was just nice to get out here and get that win.”

A trio of seniors scored for Manteno, starting with Ben Froeschle’s goal just 84 seconds into the game.

The final 38:36 of the first half would go by without either team scoring, although Reed-Custer’s Matthew Kuban nearly tied things up with about 15 minutes to go before halftime only to have Manteno keeper Cayden Lacher steer it away from the net.

Eric Eldridge added a goal early in the second half that gave the Panthers some breathing room, and Foster added another for good measure with 33 seconds to go.

“When we got the first goal in the first half, we kind of settled down,” Eldridge said. “Coach (Oscar Farfan) told us ahead of the second half a lot of things to keep the momentum up, and just come out strong in the second half. We did, and we put two more on them and played a lot better.”

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Manteno's Ben Froeschle scores a goal to take the lead over Reed-Custer during Manteno's 3-0 victory in the Class 1A Momence Regional championship on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (Ella Langellier for Shaw Local N)

Many of the same players are on the field for the Panthers this season that were major contributors to last season’s success.

They lost four seniors from last season, including leading scorer Kash Goranson and goalkeeper Maverick Kenney, but Froeschle has stepped up to lead the team in goals (23) while Foster, Eldridge and Gio Arrigo have all reached double figures as well.

Lacher has stepped into the starting goalkeeper role as a freshman, and in saving his lone chance Saturday, helped anchor the Panther defense in its 12th clean sheet of the season.

While having plenty of experience certainly helps, Farfan said that the team has really committed to the culture the program is trying to establish and is reaping the rewards of that commitment.

“Back-to-back regionals for the first time as a program is great,” he said. “These boys, last year and this year, they have just really bought into the family environment we’re trying to create. We try to tell them that we have each other’s backs on and off the field, and they’ve bought in.

“I think that’s why we’ve had a lot of our success, because they play for each other.”

Reed-Custer was playing in a regional title game for the second straight season on Saturday, with a 2-1 loss to Momence last season and another close loss to Manteno this season leaving the Comets (8-14-1) just shy of the program’s first regional title.

They are set to lose six seniors, including goalkeeper Vincent Bollino who made a dozen saves Saturday, but with leading scorer Kuban, a sophomore, set to lead a large group of returners next season, head coach Andy Gleixner wants to see those returners keep growing.

“One thing we’ve been fortunate to do at Reed-Custer soccer is build our offseason a little bit,” he said. “They’re playing in the winter and spring, getting in the weight room. So the message to them is get get bigger, get faster, get stronger. Give yourself an opportunity to go get that first regional title in school history.”

For Manteno, a matchup with Chicago Christian awaits in the Class 1A Coal City Sectional semifinals on Tuesday at 7 p.m. These teams met in the Rivals Cup championship game on Sept. 27, where the Knights handed Manteno a 2-1 loss on their home field.

Foster said he and his teammates are looking forward to the rematch.

“As long as we come out with intensity, play our game and stay under control, I feel like we can handle business pretty well,” he said.