Boys soccer: Minooka ousted from the postseason with loss to Moline

JOLIET – Zac Monnett stood there sort of stunned at the finality of it all. A four-year varsity player and one of 10 seniors on the Minooka boys soccer team, he gave his all.

But the Indians just couldn’t connect.

“We just came out slow,” the Minooka midfielder said. “In the playoffs, a bad 10 minutes can crush you, and that’s what happened.”

Despite having numerous opportunities, the Indians couldn’t dent the back of the net and lost, 1-0, to Moline in a Class 3A Collinsville Sectional semifinal that was played Tuesday evening at Joliet West.

It was the second straight season, in which there were playoffs, that Minooka (15-7-2) had a season-ending loss to the Maroons. Moline won the Pekin Regional title two years ago to the day with a 2-1 win over the Indians.

“We had our chances, but that’s playoff soccer,” Minooka coach Nate Spriggs said. “Moline is a very good team. Rick Sanchez is a very good coach for them. He’s been there [26] years and had a lot of postseason success (coaching in his 11th sectional). We knew what we were up against.”

They were up against a team that took advantage of its best scoring opportunity in the 10th minute of the game. That came when forward Salheed Jah sent a nice cross from the left side through the box. Midfielder and fellow junior Diego Gomez slipped past a defender and was there to knock it past junior keeper Ethan Kimbarovsky and into the right side with 30:17 to play in the first half.

That would be the lone goal of the game. But not because of lack of opportunities.

The closest call for the Indians came with about 15 minutes to play in the first half. That’s when junior midfielder Carson Messina ripped a shot from about 35 yards out on the far left that hit the crossbar with such force that the rattle reverberated on the sideline. But the ball bounced away, and so did one of the Indians’ best chances.

“Obviously we got the chances, and it doesn’t always go our way,” Messina said. “[On his shot] I had the time and space and let it go. I thought it was in. It was just inches.

“We just have to accept our fate and move on. We have to keep improving our game and can do well again next year.”

Monnett had a pair of chances with about five minutes left in the first half. But his header was saved and a quick follow-up shot at the left post also was turned back by senior keeper Aiden Hancock.

The Minooka opportunities were numerous in the second half. Messina had a long shot saved on one hop just two minutes in. A Moline yellow card in the 55th minute resulted in another restart chance from Monnett that was saved.

A crossing feed from junior forward Ben Wolcott just missed connecting. The Maroons got a big push late and nearly added to the lead, but senior defender Kaleb Lowden, a three-year varsity player, hustled back to make a save on a header with 1:20 remaining in the game.

With four seconds left, Messina had a shot. But it was deflected out, and the clock ran out on the Indians.

“We came out flat, but then we really locked down on defense after the opening 20 minutes,” said Spriggs, who just completed his fourth season as head coach. “The success of this season is a tribute to our seniors. They have built the program up to this point and raised expectations.”

The 10 seniors are Yirga Boeringa, Tyler Colwell, Evan Felgenhauer, Logan Kalafut, Lowden, Monnett, Micah Nelson, Cade Ooms, Justin Pech, and Mateo Rayes.

“This year the chemistry within our team was the best,” Monnett said. “We all loved each other, and it was like we were one big extended family.”