Kankakee senior Alexis Cruz got his team off to a great start during Monday’s Class 2A Ottawa Regional semifinal against the host Pirates and the Kays never looked back.

Cruz worked around a defender and sent a right-footed rocket shot from 18-yards out on the left wing into the top weakside corner of the net just nine minutes in.

Subsectional No. 3-seeded Kankakee (18-6) then scored three more times over the next 20 minutes and eventually completed a 7-1 win over No. 5 Ottawa (10-11).

The Kays — now winners of 12 straight — will play La Salle-Peru, a 3-0 winner over Streator in the night’s opening match, at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the regional title.

“I happy to see the chemistry of this team come together,” Kankakee coach Vincent Mkhwanazi said. “The boys understand what is expected of them and they are playing for each other and following through on what the game plan is. Our system had a very good flow to it tonight.”

The Kays made it 2-0 in the 18th minute on Joseph Andrade’s rebound goal just inside the post. In the 28th minute, Angel Cruz headed in a corner kick by Jason Lopez, and three minutes after that, Dylan Tapia Ayala found the back of the net off an assist from Alexis Cruz.

Ottawa cut the deficit to three with just over a minute to play in the half on a penalty kick by Jorge Lopez — his 12th goal of the year.

“We still have to work on our consistency; we want to make sure we are locked in for the entire 80 minutes,” Mkhwanazi said. “The goal we allowed was a lapse in focus. It’s only one goal, and we still had a lead, but playing a full game without any of those lapses is what our goal is for every match.”

The Kays started the second half strong with Angel Cruz scoring his second tally of the match five minutes in on a one-timer off a corner by Lopez.

“Everybody is just doing their thing,” Alexis Cruz said. “We always want to possess to ball as much as we can, and tonight was a little struggle early on adjusting to the field as it was a little bumpy.

“Coach also talked about not forcing anything and to let the game come to us. I felt like we did a good job of moving the ball and created space for each other. We all play together in club as well as here, so most of the time we know where each other is going to be. It just instinct at times.”

Kankakee finished the match with goals from Aylala off an Angel Cruz assist in the 65th minutes before Cruz completed a hat trick with short range goal with seven minutes left.

The Cruz brothers have now each scored 21 goals on the season with Ayala adding 12.

Kays’ keeper Adolfo Perez was credited with four saves, while Ottawa’s Landry Brenbarger stopped 11 shots, including a handful of sensational saves.

Kanakee held a 24-6 advantage in total attempts, including 18-5 on the net.

“That was the best team we’ve played all season,” Ottawa coach Kevin Olesen said. “Every player in every position on the field was solid, no weaknesses. They are a very skilled team all-around. If you give them a good look more often than not, they are going to finish.

“I’m proud of my guys. We had some opportunities tonight but weren’t able to capitalize. We only had three seniors on the team, and the younger guys, some of them freshmen all have gotten better as the season has gone along. I’m excited what the future has in store for us.”