A postseason ago, Manteno went out to Coal City and handed the host Coalers a loss in the regional championship.

This postseason, the stakes will be ramped up even higher when these two Illinois Central Eight Conference rivals meet again in Saturday’s IHSA Class 1A Coal City Sectional championship.

Coal City (21-3) punched its ticket with a 7-2 win over Herscher (16-7-2) in the first of Tuesday’s semifinals, with Manteno (18-5-2) holding on for a 1-0 win over Chicago Christian in the second.

The Coalers came into Tuesday fresh off a shootout win over Joliet Catholic that gave the program its first-ever regional title.

Senior Juilian Micetich said it’s been a long time coming for him, his 11 fellow seniors and the Coal City program, and the opportunity to play for a sectional title is one he’s looking forward to.

“It feels great,” he said. “I’ve been waiting since my freshman year for this moment. It’s the furthest we’ve ever come, and I plan to keep going.”

Micetich assisted on a pair of Carter Hollis goals in the first half, and his lengthy throw-in from near the corner was knocked around in the box a bit before Adrian Dames put it in the net.

The score was 3-2 at halftime, with Herscher getting goals from Rowan Keigher and Luis Parra.

Micetich added an insurance goal for the Coalers six minutes into the second half, and when his shot with about 14 minutes to go rebounded out to Dylan Fatlan for a goal, all but sealing the win. Dane Noffsinger and Dominick Chellino each added a goal after that.

Hollis, a sophomore, has emerged as the scoring leader on the senior-laden Coalers. He said he likes their chances to keep the season alive Saturday on their home field.

“Since we’re a home we’ve also got the fans, so the other team might struggle a little bit,” he said. “Also we’re more of a turf team anyway, and when we play in grass we struggle. So us having turf is a very big benefit for us.”

Herscher’s season came to and end, as did the careers of its only two seniors, both of whom will certainly be missed.

Defender Connor Buckley saw just a few short stints on the field Saturday while trying to play through a torn ACL, with his absence on the back line ultimately making things tough on the Tiger defense.

Parra’s goal in the first half was the 55th of his final season and 127th of his stellar Tiger career.

Head coach Hugo Hernandez was in his first season with these two, but said both made an impact on him and the team.

“Connor is probably one of the best defenders I’ve ever coached,” he said. “Maybe the smallest defender I’ve ever coached, but plays like he’s the tallest guy on the field. And Luis is at the table with some of the best players I’ve ever seen in my nine years of coaching and playing at the highest level possible.”

With such a large class of players set to return for the Tigers, Hernandez said he is looking forward to the future as well.

“I’ve got a great group of guys I wouldn’t trade the world for, and we’ll be back,” he said.

For Manteno, the win over Chicago Christian was a bit of payback after the Knights beat them 2-1 in the championship game of the Rivals Cup on Sept. 27.

After a scoreless first half Tuesday, Maddox Toepper stole the ball with a tackle deep in Chicago Christian’s half of the field five minutes into the second half.

He passed to Ben Froeschle who, who after coming up short on multiple scoring chances in the first half, scored the game’s only goal.

“The thing is always keep your head up,” Froeschle said. “I was missing a lot of opportunities, but I didn’t keep my head down. Fortunately Maddox found me, and I got the winning goal.”

Up next is the Panthers’ third matchup with the Coalers of the season. Manteno won each of the first two games in shootouts, one in ICE play and another in the Rivals Cup, and both after the teams went scoreless through regulation.

“It’s a tough matchup,” Toepper said. “Beating a team three times is not easy to do. The next couple days of practice we’re going to need to work our tails off.”