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Mendota subdues Serena to win eighth straight boys soccer regional · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Mendota subdues Serena to win Eighth Straight boys soccer regional This
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  article is being read by an automated voice, brought to you by
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  Everlet. Forcing the issue from the opening kick, Mendota claimed its eighth
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  consecutive Class 1 A-Boys soccer regional championship on Friday at Byron, defeating
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  Serena 5-1. The Trojans, May 1, 19, sent the ball deep into
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  Serena's half of the field to start the contest and immediately pushed
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  forward with pressure that kept the Huskers, July 1, 12, from establishing
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  any sustained position. Mendota owned a 29-3 advantage in shot attempts, and
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  did not allow the Huskers a single attempt in the first half.
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  We like to run that play every time we have to kick
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  off, Mendota coach Nick Myers said, just to try to pin them
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  deep into their corner as far as possible, and put the pressure
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  on right from the get go. After a pair of early shots
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  sailed wide, the Trojans opened the scoring just more than three minutes
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  into the game, as Isaac Diaz threaded a pass to Cesar Casas,
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  and Mendoza's all-time leading scorer found the bottom right corner of the
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  net for his 132nd career goal. I was very happy we got
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  An early goal, after we didn't get one until the second half
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  the other night, in a three zero win over Byron, Myers said.
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  Overall I thought we played well. Diaz doubled the Trojans lead with
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  just 328 remaining before halftime. An initial shot attempt was blocked and
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  landed at the feet of Casas, who fed the ball back to
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  Diaz at the top of the penalty box. Diaz's second attempt found
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  its mark, and Mendota went into halftime with a 2-0 advantage. A
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  long pass from Jamal Leslie set up Diaz for his second goal
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  with 21-18 remaining in the second half, and Casas threaded a pass
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  to Diaz on the left side for a third goal with 1848
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  to play. We've been playing together for like fifteen years, Diaz said
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  of Casas. He's like my brother. I love him. I'm glad he's
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  on my team. Our intensity was very important because it makes us
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  all play better. That intensity, that's what We
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  need every game. Tonight we had it and we got the win.
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  The Huskers broke up the shutout with 1534 on the clock. Them
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  ball glanced off the hand of a Mendota defender in the penalty
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  area, giving Serena a penalty shot, and Justin Delgado's attempt was on
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  the mark. We only lost two seniors off of last year's team,
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  and these guys gained a ton of experience, Serena coach Jeremy Foreman
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  said. I'm so proud of them that we put together twelve wins
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  season after winning nine last year and five the year before. So
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  it's been a work in progress. So proud of these guys for
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  sticking with it and getting better every day and it was nice
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  to see us get on the board against a really good team.
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  Diaz broke through for a fourth goal, with 8-0-1 to play as
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  the Trojans continued to play spirited, aggressive soccer until the final seconds
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  in preparation for late game situations further down the road. A big
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  reason why we build our schedule up with some 3A and 2A
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  schools is to make it so we're playing tight games, down to
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  the wire, needing a late goal, Meyer said. We've got a lot
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  of guys with with playoff experience, so they've been in these games
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  before. They know what it's like to have a tight game in
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  the end, and we've got some clutch guys on offense that can
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  get us those goals when we need. Mendota moves on to Monday's
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  sectional round hosted by Indian Creek at Indian Creek Middle School in
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  Waterman. The Trojans play at 5 p.m. Against Winnebago, a 1 0
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  winner over River Valley Christian in Saturday's Marengo Regional Championship.