It can’t be overstated enough that the improvement of Minooka’s boys soccer team from last year to now is impressive. While a consistently competitive team most of the past few seasons, they went 5-11-4 in 2024 but entered Saturday morning 18-2.

Not just 18-2, but competing for a regional championship on their home pitch against Bradley-Bourbonnais. Some playoff situations can seem so good for one side, they can be primed for disappointment.

That was certainly not the case Saturday morning.

Minooka controlled possession from the onset, scoring 15 minutes in and controlling the pace of the game from there. It amounted to a 4-0 victory and the Class 3A Minooka Regional Championship. The Indians (19-2) now advance to the Peoria Notre Dame sectional semifinals against Normal Community. Bradley’s season has come to an end.

“It’s been a fun ride and the best part is it’s not over yet,” Minooka coach Nate Spriggs said. “Defensively, we’ve had seven games where we only allowed one goal and we’ve had 11 shutouts. Defensively our guys have bought in on that end of the field and when you play good defense you only need a couple of goals. Things went our way today.”

An influx of transfers or a group of players returning from injury might explain such a surge from last year to now, but that’s not the case for Minooka. It’s practically the same roster they had last season, just a year older and hungrier.

Senior Andrew Calderon said he and his fellow seniors have taken it upon themselves to motivate and lead this group throughout the year.

“We really wanted it this year,” Calderon said. “It’s our last year and we wanted to make the most of it. Last year was a disappointment so we wanted to go out this year and leave it all on the field.”

As for Bradley (13-11), the end of the year doesn’t diminish the accomplishments they’ve had this season. This was the first winning record the Boilermakers have had since going to state in 2017. It was only the second year of double-digit victories for Bradley in that time. They added a playoff victory to that resume with a 3-1 win over United Township to get to the regional finals.

All of that is something worth celebrating.

“I’m so proud of these guys, the way they worked and how they came together as a unit,” coach Andy Stembridge said. “I’m not surprised at this team’s success and their rise has been fantastic. They won, fought and lost together and they were very enjoyable to coach.”

The first half belonged to Minooka in terms of possession and shot attempts, but credit Bradley’s defense for holding them to just one goal. Calderon scored 15 minutes into the action off a nice assist by 15 mins in 9 scores for Minooka, assist by Jamie Franson.

Calderon only needed the first 50 seconds of the second half to make it a brace for himself and extend the lead to 2-0. Calderon took the assist from Franson and headed it into the net before being swarmed by teammates in celebration.

Three minutes later, Ethan Koranda took a corner kick and perfectly placed it right in front of the Boilermaker net. Brian Ngong did the rest as he earned the goal to extend the lead to 3-0.

The next goal didn’t come for another 17 minutes, but it was worth the wait. Koranda launched a booming kick from 35 yards out and sailed it over the keeper’s head to make it 4-0 with 20 minutes to go and that’s how the score remained.

Next up for the Indians will be a daunting challenge. While Minooka is the number one seed on their side of the bracket, Normal is number two. They’re coming off a 4-3 victory over Peoria Notre Dame and will be primed and ready. Spriggs knows that in order to advance to the sectional finals, they simply need to keep doing what got them here in the first place.

“We’ve got great senior leadership and great captains,” Spriggs said. “Our guys have bought in so I know we’ll be prepared. We’re familiar with Normal and they’ve been playing well. We just have to take care of what we do best which is move the ball and go possession by possession and hopefully we come out on top.”