Cavers, Lions roll past Triad

St. Viator’s boys soccer team proved Friday that blondes have more fun.

Sporting bleached hair to a man, the Lions blasted Troy Triad 5-0 in the Class 2A state semifinals at North Central College in Naperville to advance to the state championship game for the first time since they won the Class A title in 2003.

“The last time [the Lions] won state they dyed it blond, so we figured we might as well keep the tradition,” St. Viator senior Brendan King said. “It was a little bit of an interesting day yesterday with all the comments, especially with my long hair, but hopefully it works.”

King helped make it work by scoring two goals and an assist against an overmatched Triad squad that was playing in its first state semifinal. Kevin Cavers also scored twice for St. Viator (23-4-1), which outshot the Knights (14-10-2) by a 29-3 margin.

“A lot of us have been around the program for most of our lives,” King said. “Me and Cavers especially have been looking forward to this since we were little, watching our brothers play. So it’s nice to have this feeling right now, but we still have tomorrow. That’s what counts.”

The Lions attacked relentlessly but didn’t score until Trevor Wheeler scored a brilliant unassisted goal with 13:36 left in the first half, dribbling around two defenders on the right wing and beating Triad keeper Jake Terveer (11 saves) from six yards out.

“I think Trevor proved today why he’s one of the best players in the state,” St. Viator coach Mike Taylor said. “He’s stepped up every game in the playoffs. The bigger the game, the better he plays.”

Wheeler’s goal opened the floodgates as King headed home a Billy Hamilton corner kick at the 3:44 mark and Cavers tallied unassisted 75 seconds later to make it 3-0. In the second half, a Hamilton free kick was headed on net by King and volleyed home by Cavers with 35:35 left, and King finished the scoring with a 30-yard free kick at the 19:43 mark.

What did Taylor think about his team’s dye job?

“Some of the boys have older brothers who were on the state championship team, so they sort of reminisced a little bit and decided to go crazy,” Taylor said. “I said, ‘If you walk out here with hair that color, you ought to back it up.”

St. Viator will face Peoria Notre Dame, which routed Freeport 6-0 in the other semifinal. Cody Gilfillan and Vince Cicciarelli both scored twice for the Irish (23-2-1).