With just over 26 minutes left Monday, Mendota senior Johan Cortez kicked a cross into the box.

Junior Cesar Casas charged into the box and fired the ball past Quincy Notre Dame keeper Carter Hankins to give the Trojans the lead.

The Mendota faithful exploded with cheers and the bleachers shook beneath their stomping feet.

“I was feeling confident we were going to win,” Mendota senior goalkeeper Mateo Goy said. “I didn’t think they were going to come back, especially with this atmosphere.”

Goy played a key role in the lead holding up as he made several big saves down the stretch to help the Trojans to a 2-1 victory in the Class 1A Mendota Supersectional to punch their ticket back to state.

“It feels amazing to go back,” Mendota senior Mauricio Salinas said. “I’m proud of my teammates. All the hard work that started in the summer until now is really worth it. It’s what led us here.”

Last fall, in the program’s first trip to state, Mendota placed third with a penalty kick win over Columbia. The Trojans lost 1-0 to eventual state champion Normal U-High in the semifinals.

“It’s an awesome feeling (to be going back to state),” Mendota coach Nick Myers said. “It’s a goal we set as soon as we won that third-place game last year. We knew we had a bunch of our core coming back. Last year we were just kind of happy to be there. This year we’re not just happy to be there. We want to win the whole thing.”

The Trojans (24-4) will play Coal City (23-3) in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Hoffman Estates. The Coalers advanced with a 1-0 win over Williamsville in the Maroa-Forsyth Supersectional.

“I haven’t heard much about them, but I expect them to be a good team,” Salinas said. “We just have to play our game and come out fast early on in the game.”

Salinas helped the Trojans to a faster start Monday than they’ve been having through most of the postseason.

Mendota was scoreless at halftime of the regional and sectional finals, but Salinas put the Trojans on the board in the 13th minute when he corralled a long pass from Cortez, worked past a defender and put the ball into the lower left corner of the net.

“I got a long pass from Johan, I did a fake shot and it got me open and I took a shot with my left foot and it went in,” Salinas said. “It felt amazing, hearing the crowd cheer for you, watching your teammates be happy for you. I’m proud of that goal because it helped get all my teammates to this point.

“We had to learn from our mistakes from the last few games. The last few games were a little iffy in the first half and we just couldn’t let that happen again.”

Mendota held a 1-0 lead at halftime and maintained it through the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The Raiders broke through on their third free kick from just outside the box in a 5:10 span when Hudson Moore kicked in a rebound with 29:21 left after Goy stopped the initial free kick and another shot.

It was the first goal the Trojans allowed in the postseason.

But Mendota responded quickly with Casas’ goal 3:20 later.

“I think it shows our composure and our leadership that when they tied it up, we didn’t break, we kept going and we got one not too long after that,” Myers said.

Myers said the second goal “put a smile” on his face because the Trojans executed something they work on every day at practice.

“We knew they were a little vulnerable if we could get the ball to the outside and whip it into the middle, and we were finally able to do it,” Myers said. “Cesar made a great run and kudos to him for not blasting it over the goal and just placing it perfectly in the middle of the net.”

Goy and the Trojans defense made the lead hold up. The senior keeper made a diving save of a hard shot with 9:28 left and made another tough save after a free kick with 4:58 remaining.

“I positioned myself,” Goy said. “The save with 9 minutes left, he hit it pretty good.”

The Raiders (6-13-3) had one more desperation attempt off a long free kick with 5 seconds left, but Goy stopped the last shot, setting off the celebration.

The Trojans grabbed the plaque and ran it toward their fans and were mobbed by the student section.

“It’s amazing,” Goy said. “Last year after we lost the first game, I was really upset. After the third-place game, I was like, ‘We deserved first, we worked hard for it.’ I still think the same thing. Now we’re going to go back and we’re going to prove it.”

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Mendota keeper Mateo Goy is carried off of the field by members of the Mendota boys soccer team after defeating Quincy Notre Dame during the Class 1A Supersectional game on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025 at Mendota High School. (Scott Anderson)