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Mendota lets three-goal lead slip away in supersectional loss to Alleman · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Mendota lets three goal leads slip away in super sectional loss to
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  Alaman. Written by Kevin Schlumber. This article is being read by an
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  automated voice brought to you by Everlet. As the final seconds ticked
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  away, Mendota soccer players fell to their knees, some rolling onto their
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  backs, with their hands covering their faces as Alleman players raced toward
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  their bench in celebration.
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  For the Trojans, their run at a third straight IHSA Class 1A
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  state tournament appearance came up a win short as they lost 4-3
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  to the Pioneers in the IVC Supersectional A on Monday in Chillicothe.
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  I just let them know that nothing we say right now is
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  going to make any of us feel any better, but to have
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  the kind of season we did with the amount of players we
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  lost from last year’s team is incredible, Mendota coach Nick Myers said.
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  We were able to get 21 wins. We made it to the
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  supersectional again.
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  Mendota, which was state runner-up last year and third-place finisher in 2024,
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  came out strong Monday, scoring two goals in 21 seconds in the
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  16th minute.
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  Isaac Diaz saved the ball from going out of bounds on the
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  left side, dribbled around a Pioneer defender and fired a shot into
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  the right side of the net.
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  Less than half a minute later, Diaz sent a pass through the
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  defense and Cesar Casas finished for a 2-0 lead with 25:19 left
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  in the first half.
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  The Trojans extended their lead to 3-0 when Omar Nanez ripped a
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  free kick that curved into the net with 11:45 left in the
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  first half.
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  We couldn’t have asked for a better start, Myers said. We came
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  out with lots of intensity. We executed on offense. Maybe it was
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  bad luck that we were able to get a multiple-goal lead early.
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  It’s not usually something we do. We usually get going in the
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  second half of games.
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  Despite being down three goals, the Pioneers managed to flip the momentum
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  before halftime.
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  Alleman’s Jack Wendt scored on a free kick from just outside the
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  box with 7:03 left in the half, and Anthony Ramirez scored on
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  a scramble in the box with 1:55 to pull the Pioneers within
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  3-2 at halftime.
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  The hope was after we got the third was to get to
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  halftime with them at zero, Myers said. They were able to poke
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  two in in the last 10 minutes, which definitely swung the momentum
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  their way.
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  Wendt scored the equalizer for Alleman with 26:07 left in the game.
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  Anthony Ramirez came off the bench for the Pioneers late and delivered
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  the game-winning goal as he booted in a cross with 9:05 remaining.
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  The second half, I thought we played well, but we just had
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  a couple costly errors in the back, and Alleman was able to
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  execute on those, Myers said. The couple chances we had in the
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  second half, we weren’t able to execute on ours. You get to
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  the Elite Eight, it comes down to who can execute on the
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  chances they get. Unfortunately, Alleman got a couple more than we did
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  tonight.
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  The Trojans managed three shots on goal in the second half. Daniel
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  Garcia had a one-on-one opportunity, but Alleman goalkeeper Zach Dieterich made a
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  nice save.
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  Mendota also got a shot and another off the rebound in the
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  63rd minute but couldn’t put another goal in.
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  They moved some people around, Myers said. I think they made some
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  adjustments and realized they needed to shore up the side Cesar was
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  on. In the first half, we were kind of able to get
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  whatever we wanted to on the left side.
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  We started to play more defensively in the second half, trying to
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  hold that one-goal lead. Then I think when they were able to
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  tie it up, that kind of deflated us a little bit to
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  an extent and Alleman had a lot of confidence in the second
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  half after they were able to make the comeback. It’s kind of
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  hard to stop a team when they’re full of confidence like that.
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  The Trojans finished 21-6-1 and won their eighth consecutive regional title and
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  third straight sectional championship.
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  Mendota graduates a strong senior class of seven, including losing the program’s
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  top two career goal scorers in Casas and Diaz.
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  All of our seniors, whenever they were called upon, they performed, Myers
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  said. These are guys who show up all the time in the
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  offseason without being asked, and it helps. It helps our younger guys.
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  They see the importance of showing up, the importance of team chemistry.
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  I think that’s a lot of why we’ve been able to keep
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  having success is every year our seniors just set the example and
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  everybody wants to follow suit.
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  Alleman 18-5-1 will play Coal City 16-7 in the state semifinals at
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  7:30 p.m. Thursday in Rockford.