Three Peoria-area soccer teams won
Illinois High School Association regional championships Friday night, setting up a showdown next week between the area's top programs. Morton (21-2) now will face old rival Dunlap in the Class 2A
LaSalle-Peru Sectional semifinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Notre Dame also won, and will face Normal U-High in the other semifinal, at 4 p.m.
Morton 7, Metamora 0
Morton center-midfielder Sophia Davila notched two goals to help break Metamora. Senior Addie Dea scored a goal, and senior center-back Carly Whitaker — also an all-state volleyball player — scored her 11th goal of the season off a corner kick that coach Tory DeLong said was "buried with emphasis." "We expected Metamora to focus on defense, but once we broke through the game opened up," DeLong said. "We really have put a lot of pieces together, it's a school record 19 wins in a row now. It's been an impressive season, and we want to keep it going as long as possible."
Ava LaFollette's magnificent season continued in the playoffs Friday. The junior forward scored five goals to lead Notre Dame to a win over Geneseo in the regional final at Notre Dame. Teammate and junior midfielder Abigail Chaddock notched a hat trick as well, adding three more goals. Notre Dame (22-1-1) will face Normal University at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the LaSalle-Peru Sectional semifinals. LaFollette now has 53 goals — an ongoing single-season school record for Notre Dame's girls and boys soccer programs — in 24 games. She has scored 79 goals in two seasons. Her 53 goals are just two shy of reaching the IHSA top 20 list for most goals in a single season. She has 104 career goals in 79 varsity games. "We moved off the ball really well tonight," Notre Dame coach Ben Ralph said. "We were able to find some open spaces, and Ava and Abigail were able to finish some off."
Dunlap 3, Richwoods 1
No. 3-seeded Dunlap handled No. 2 seed Richwoods in the Class 2A Orion regional final on Friday. "Tough one between us and Richwoods, always a battle, always close," Dunlap coach Peter Cenek said. "They came out very aggressive, won the 50-50 balls and had the energy. "The pressure was on us early, but we settled in." With 15 minutes left in the first half, Dunlap's Devyn Davis scored on a penalty kick for a 1-0 lead. Kate Robertson made it 2-0 early in the second half on a one-on-one net charge that ended in a collision and knocked the Richwoods goalkeeper out of the game. Elise Grant put it out of reach when she right-footed a shot while moving across the top of the box for 3-0 with about 15 minutes left. "We were in complete control of the game in the second half, maintained possession, composed," Cenek said. "It was like we hit a reset button. We just had to defend after getting to 3-0. This was a huge win for our program, and I'm so excited for our girls." Richwoods finished its season 15-6-5. Dunlap (16-5-3) plays Morton at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the 2A sectional semifinals at LaSalle-Peru.
Normal U-High 2, Washington 0
Normal U-High (18-3-1) knocked off No. 3 seed Washington, 2-0, in its own Class 2A regional final Friday. U-High will face Notre Dame at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the 2A sectional semifinals at LaSalle-Peru. Washington closes out its season 9-10-1 and with a third-place finish in the Mid-Illini Conference.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports reporter. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
