More history was made Saturday for the Kewanee High School soccer program. The Boilermakers defeated the Roanoke-Benson/Eureka Coop team 3-0 in the semifinals of the Mendota Regional.
The win marks the program’s first regional semifinal victory. Kewanee will now play Mendota Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the regional championship game. Host Mendota beat Serena 6-1 Saturday to earn their regional championship birth.
Last year Kewanee upended Peoria (Manual) 8-0 to advance to the semifinals against Monmouth-Roseville. The Boilers lost the double overtime heartbreaker, 5-4, and failed to advance.
“It was cold and windy Saturday, but we came in with the mentality of winning,” said Kewanee Coach Jose Bermudez. “Nobody wanted this to be our last game of the season.”
The Boilers took control of the match early and created many chances to score. JJ Roginski scored the first goal for KHS, a header off of a corner kick, for the 1-0 lead.
Cristian Cazares had been hampered by a rib injury and hadn’t played for the last two weeks, but the senior leader was back in action Saturday and scored Kewanee’s second goal.
Sophomore striker Isidro Martinez scored the final Kewanee goal. Cristian Cazares had two assists on the day and and JJ Roginski had one.
Junior goalie Dillon Price had three saves for the Boilermakers.
