Boys soccer: Mendota looking for another deep postseason run

Before the season started, Mendota boys soccer coach Nick Myers talked to senior Izaiah Nanez about switching positions.

Nanez is a four-year varsity player for the Trojans and has always been in an attack position. Last year, he played in the midfield.

This fall, Myers wanted to move him to center back to lead the defense and fill the void left by the graduation of Rafa Romero, the 2022 NewsTribune Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

“I talked to him over the summer knowing we had these two freshmen coming in [Cesar Casas and Isaac David] along with [sophomores] Johan [Cortez] and Sebastian [Carlos],” Myers said. “They’re a little bit quicker than Izaiah and I thought Izaiah would make the perfect leader, perfect center back for us kind of like Rafa was the last three years. He was all for it. I think it’s been a big reason why we’re having the success we’re having.”

Nanez said he felt center back “was the best fit” for him.

“We talked about how I might not be the quickest on the team, but I think it’s important to have my experience in the back,” Nanez said. “I can see everything on the field and I can let the guys know what’s coming and I can have a voice back there.”

Behind leadership of Nanez and his fellow upperclassmen along with the mix of veteran and young talent, the Trojans are 19-2-2.

The Trojans have outscored their opponents 101-13 and have posted 14 shutouts. Diaz has scored 27 goals and has eight assists, Cesar Casas has 21 goals and five assists and Cortez had 21 goals and 21 assists.

Now, Mendota looks to continue its recent run of postseason success.

The Trojans have won four consecutive regional titles and brought home a sectional championship in 2021.

Mendota is the No. 1 seed in its sub-sectional and will play in its own Class 1A Mendota Regional.

Mendota will face No. 6 Serena (10-8-1) in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday. The other semifinal features No. 4 Kewanee (11-7-2) against No. 5 Roanoke-Benson (8-7-1).

The title game is 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18.

“I think it’ll be a tough regional, but I think it’s doable.”

—  Nick Myers, Mendota coach

Mendota has beaten Kewanee (5-0), but has not played Serena or Roanoke-Benson.

“It’s going to be a challenging regional,” Myers said. “Serena almost knocked us off in the regional final a couple years ago. That’s going to be a tough semifinal. I don’t know a lot about Roanoke-Benson, but we’ve seen Kewanee and we beat them 5-0, but it was only 1-0 at the half. We’re going to have to start fast. That’s what we’ve been stressing lately. We can’t get behind or keep teams in games and give them more confidence.

“I think it’ll be a tough regional, but I think it’s doable.”

The winner advances to the Illinois Valley Central Sectional to face the winner of the Monmouth-Roseville Regional at noon on Saturday, Oct. 21.

Coming out of the Monmouth-Roseville Regional is likely to be the host Titans (16-3-1) or defending state champion Quincy Notre Dame (8-10-2).

Mendota beat Monmouth-Roseville 1-0 this season and tied QND 2-2. The Trojans lost to QND in a sectional final last year but beat the Raiders in a sectional final in 2021.

The other side of the sectional features the winner of the Riverdale Regional, which includes No. 2 Alleman (11-5-1) and No. 3 Earlville (13-4-1), and the winner of the Peoria Christian Regional, which features the host Chargers (18-4-2), the No. 1 seed in the other sub-sectional.

“We kind of have an idea of who we might play in the sectional,” Myers said. “I think that’s going to be very tough too, but if we show up to play, that’s doable to win too. We beat Monmouth 1-0 and tied QND 2-2. I’ve watched Peoria Christian. They’re very good this year. They have a lot of the same kids as the last two years when we beat them in sectionals, but not they’re juniors and seniors, so that would be a very tough task.

“It’ll be nice to maybe have played a lot of these teams ahead of time so we know what we’re getting into. We’re hoping for a deep postseason run this year.”