Class A soccer: Parker continues dream season

The dream season continues for the Francis Parker boys soccer team. The Colonels assured themselves of earning their school’s first state trophy in any team sport by edging Bloomington Central Catholic 1-0 in double overtime Friday in the Class A state quarterfinals at North Central College in Naperville.

Parker (17-6-2) will face Winnebago in today’s 9 a.m. semifinal.

Senior defender Matt McMurray scored the winning goal when he volleyed home a Harrison Freund free kick from 12 yards out 51 seconds into the second overtime. It was only his second goal of the year.

‘‘We don’t really have a set play [on free kicks],’’ McMurray said. ‘‘We just kind of send some people near post and some people far post. I ended up being in the right place at the right time. I had some confidence because earlier in the game I just barely missed a corner kick, so it felt good to get this one in.’’

Freund, who had spent much of the game creating scoring chances, took the free kick from just inside the right sideline about 25 yards away from the Bloomington goal. His serve into the middle of the box found McMurray, who knocked a dribbler inside the right post.

‘‘I did nothing,’’ Freund said. ‘‘I let the big guy do the work, and for the first time I’ve seen him come out of the air with a volley. It was amazing.’’

Both schools were making their state finals debuts and came out cautiously, especially on defense. Bloomington Central (15-4-2) had the better of the play late in the first half, but after that the Colonels seemed to wake up.

‘‘I’m not a morning person,’’ Freund said. ‘‘This was an early game, [11 a.m. start] and it was a little bit nerve-wracking. It was tough to get our rhythm, and [the Saints] packed the back, so it was tough to get through.’’

But Parker’s defense — led by McMurray, Devin Law and Zak Polonus — was equally tough, and goalkeeper Charlie Demar was outstanding, making six saves for his eighth shutout. That included diving stops on Andrew Tank in the 46th minute and John Zappa in the 59th minute.