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Mendota boys soccer looks to reload, earn third straight trip to state · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Mendota boys soccer looks to reload, earn third straight trip
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  Speaker 1: to state. Written by Kevin Schlum. This article is being
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  Speaker 1: read by an automated voice, brought to you by Everlit.
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  Speaker 1: The Mendota boys soccer team lost a lot of talent
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  Speaker 1: in the class of 2026 that led the Trojans to
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  Speaker 1: a class one, a runner-up finish last fall, and a
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  Speaker 1: third place trophy in 2024. Gone are two-time News Tribune
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  Speaker 1: Boys Soccer Player of the Year, Johan Cortes, and fellow
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  Speaker 1: News Tribune All-Area players Alex Beetz, Sebastian Carlos, Mateo Goy,
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  Speaker 1: and Ramiro Palacios. But the Trojans are ready to reload.
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  Speaker 1: The key for us has been to continue with the
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  Speaker 1: same culture we have had at MHS with soccer, Mendota
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  Speaker 1: coach Nick Meyer said. Keeping the tradition of working their
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  Speaker 1: butts off at practice is competing against each other on
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  Speaker 1: a daily basis, having the same team goal always, and
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  Speaker 1: making sure no one player is bigger than the team.
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  Speaker 1: Team success over individual success. Because of our success recently,
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  Speaker 1: guys are always hungry every year to be part of
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  Speaker 1: it and want to work for playing time on the team.
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  Speaker 1: So if you don't work hard, then it's very challenging
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  Speaker 1: to get playing time on the team. While Mendota did
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  Speaker 1: lose many strong players, the Trojans also bring back a
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  Speaker 1: strong core. Seniors Cesar Casas, 36 goals, 21 assists in 2025.
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  Speaker 1: And Isaac Diaz, 36 goals, 13 assists. Will lead the
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  Speaker 1: way offensively along with classmate Daniel Garcia and sophomore Adian Chavez.
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  Speaker 1: Junior Omar Nanez and seniors Aaron Venegas and Gail Garcia
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  Speaker 1: all saw time last year and now will lead the
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  Speaker 1: way in the midfield. Junior Abel Nanez played center back
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  Speaker 1: and right back last year and returns to anchor the
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  Speaker 1: defense along with sophomore left back Hugo Falcons. Senior Cole Kleckner,
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  Speaker 1: who will start on the right side, also has plenty
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  Speaker 1: of varsity experience. The Trojans also added a group of
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  Speaker 1: new talent who will help the team this year, including
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  Speaker 1: freshman Mario Membrano and Emiliano Garcia, along with sophomores Cruz Chavez,
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  Speaker 1: Ilan Garcia and Axel Ruiz, and senior Jamal Leslie. I
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  Speaker 1: think we have a good amount of depth, lots of
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  Speaker 1: hungry guys ready to go out there and impress and
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  Speaker 1: hoping to be the next great Mendota team this fall,
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  Speaker 1: Myers said. Lots of these boys have been playing top-level
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  Speaker 1: soccer for many years growing up, so they are ready
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  Speaker 1: for these moments. Offensively, the Trojans have a big hole
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  Speaker 1: to fill, trying to replace the 40 goals and 28
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  Speaker 1: assists from Cortes. Having Casas and Diaz back is a
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  Speaker 1: big plus for us, Myers said. I think there are
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  Speaker 1: lots of players on this team who are capable of
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  Speaker 1: producing goals, they just have been waiting for their moment
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  Speaker 1: to do it. I think outside of Casas and Diaz,
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  Speaker 1: you might see quite a few players getting 10-12 goals.
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  Speaker 1: It might be more of a team effort instead of
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  Speaker 1: the majority of the goals always coming from Cortes, Casas,
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  Speaker 1: and Diaz. I think it might take us a bit
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  Speaker 1: into the season to really start clicking, but this group
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  Speaker 1: has the ability to still be explosive on offense. Just
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  Speaker 1: have to find the right puzzle pieces. Defensively, Myers, said
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  Speaker 1: Abel Nanez, has been playing on another level this summer
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  Speaker 1: and has been very tough to score on. Falcon, Gale Garcia,
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  Speaker 1: and Kleckner provide experience, and Lelsie and Ruiz are two
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  Speaker 1: of Mendota's most athletic players. Senior Gianni Figueroa, who was
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  Speaker 1: backup keeper the past two years, and junior newcomer Oscar
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  Speaker 1: Castaneda are battling to take over for Goyan Net. We
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  Speaker 1: will be pretty secure in goal with whichever of those
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  Speaker 1: two is back there, Meyer said. With a strong returning
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  Speaker 1: group and newcomers expected to contribute, Mendota is looking for
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  Speaker 1: a third straight trip to state. I think we have
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  Speaker 1: the team to do it, Meyer said. It's just a
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  Speaker 1: matter of finding the players for each position.