It was a case of youth against experience when Plainfield Central's boys soccer team met Lockport in Monday's Class 3A Bolingbrook Regional semifinals.
And while most coaches would like to have a more experienced squad in the postseason, Wildcats coach Kevin Fitzgerald is quite pleased with his young team.
Plainfield Central scored a pair of goals in the first half and added another shortly after the break to claim a 3-0 victory over the senior-oriented Porters.
The Wildcats (13-5-2), who won the Southwest Prairie Conference title, posted their eighth shutout of the season with a squad that started two seniors and has only five seniors.
They advance to Friday's 4 p.m. regional final against Naperville North, who won 3-2 over Bolingbrook in the other semifinal. The Wildcats and Huskies tied 1-1 on Sept. 22.
"We knew that Lockport was a talented group, but we're a talented group, too," Fitzgerald said. "We were the 11th seed and Lockport has to be the best sixth seed in the state, but that's how it goes in our sectional. So our kids knew that they had to come to play tonight and we took it to them at the start.
"The guys had good energy and getting a goal early never hurts. It's never a question of whether or not we're going to get chances, but it's a case of whether we put them in since we're a defensive team first, and we're better of for it. We know Naperville North very well since they knocked us out last year."
It was a tough way for a memorable season to come to an end for the Porters, who won 13 straight at one point and tied for the SouthWest Suburban Blue crown.
Lockport (15-4-1), which started nine seniors Monday and had 15 on the squad, went 1-3-1 down the stretch and lost consecutive games for the first time this year.
"We just got outplayed a very good team," first-year Porters coach Dan Baumhardt said. "Our kids played hard and we appreciate that, but that's what we've expected from Day 1. It's just that Plainfield Central is a solid team and it made very few mistakes and also capitalized on some of our mistakes.
"We struggled a little bit toward the end of the year, but we were also going up against some good teams. There's a lot of things that these guys have accomplished this year for Lockport soccer that can't be taken away. It's a disappointing way to end, but our seniors have raised the bar for everybody."
Central had the first good scoring chance 14:30 into the contest when Josh Rosenbaum's throw in went to Tyler Gill, whose header was deflected for a corner kick.
The Wildcats got their first goal with 23:44 left in the opening half when Jon Rosenbaum lined in a shot from about 20 yards out, following a pass from Logan Spidle.
Lockport didn't collect its first shot on goal until midway through the initial half but it finally started to get some good chances shortly after that point.
With 11:40 left before the break, Ryan Turner tried to fire off a short shot from the left side but Wildcat keeper Giovanni DeLira (eight saves) came out of the net to stop it.
Central finally made the most of a corner kick on its sixth attempt when Spidle sent in a ball that no one could gain control for a time in front of the net.
Josh Rosenbaum eventually came up with the loose ball and knocked in a short shot attempt from the left side to make it 2-0 with 9:41 left before the break.
"We were all prepared and we just came out strong and took advantage of our chances and that's why we came out on top," sophomore Jon Rosenbaum said. "We probably have the toughest sectional in the state so we know that we have to battle in every game and just go out strong and take them one at a time.
"We just keep getting stronger as the year progresses. We're getting better and better so we'll see how we do on Friday against Naperville North."
It remained that way heading into the second half and the Wildcats wasted little time in adding another score to put things out of reach.
Just 3:40 after the break, Gill fired in a shot from the left side, following an assist from Czar Zeman, to give Central a 3-0 advantage.
The Wildcats almost got another goal when Jon Rosenbaum sent a header toward the net off a free kick from Spidle, but Josh Rosenbaum accidently deflected it.
The frustration continued for the Porters, who were blanked for only the second time this year. Lockport's best chance came late when Steve Mackey lined a shot off of the crossbar.
Bob Novak had a throw in that brought DeLira out of the goal, but the Porters couldn't put the ball in the empty net. He also had a long free kick that DeLira had to deflect away.
"Plainfield played well and capitalized on our mistakes," said Novak, a four-year regular and All-Stater last year for the Porters. "They utilized their long throw ins and set plays very well. We did decently in controlling the game, but we just weren't able to finish on our opportunities and had some mental lapses.
"This was coach Baumhardt's first season and we were able to win 13 games in a row, so that showed what we were capable of. We used everyone to their fullest abilities, so I think it was a good season. This was the best team that I played on during my four years, but we just weren't able to get it done tonight."
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