With Class 1A regional championship in bag, real work about to begin for QND girls soccer team

QUINCY – Members of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team were all smiles as they took turns posing for pictures with the regional championship plaque in front of the north goal at Advance Physical Therapy Field.

Earning another piece of hardware for the school’s already bulging trophy case was worth celebrating, especially for the five seniors on the roster who had just played on their home field for the final time in their careers.

Yet, after all the hugs and congratulations came the realization that the real work in the Illinois Class 1A tournament was about to begin.

“We usually get through the regional OK, which is fun, and now we can look forward to the harder games,” senior captain Makayla Patton said after the Raiders coasted to a 9-0 victory Tuesday night against overmatched Hillsboro.

“We’re going to have to bring the same energy, up our game and work harder.”

QND faced little resistance in the regional, outscoring its two opponents 18-0. Patton scored just 28 seconds into Tuesday’s contest, and she and Addie Flesch finished with three goals apiece as the Raiders outshot the Toppers 30-0.

The stakes will be higher, and the competition will be stiffer when QND faces Alton Marquette – a 6-0 winner Tuesday over Carlinville – at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the Greenville Sectional.

The Raiders ousted the Explorers 1-0 in the sectional last season on an overtime goal by Patton, and the teams played to a scoreless draw on March 31 at Advance Physical Therapy Field.

“It’ll be a really good game,” QND coach Mark Thomas said of the sectional matchup. “Two evenly matched teams. They know us well, and we know them well. It’ll come down to who takes advantage of mistakes and that type of thing.

“We’ll have to play at a much higher level.”

The Raiders set the tone early against Hillsboro, with Patton heading in a Lilly Schuette corner kick in the opening half-minute. Patton scored again at the four-minute mark after Flesch threaded a through ball into the box.

Flesch’s goal off a Patton corner kick made it 3-0 with just 9 minutes, 20 seconds elapsed, but despite continually pressuring goalkeeper Aubrey Reincke, QND didn’t add to its margin until Flesch and Liesel Vincent scored in the final 10 minutes of the first half for a five-goal lead.

“We got out to a great start, went up 3-0, and then we kind of had a lull,” Thomas said. “We changed some formational stuff. We didn’t really play well for about a 10- to 15-minute stretch. We didn’t connect and didn’t move off the ball. But then we had a really good finish to the half.”

Flesch, Patton, Sage Stratton and Lakin Allensworth all scored in a second half shortened by 18 minutes because of Illinois High School Association blowout rules. The defense produced its 10^th shutout of the season.

Patton finished with three goals and two assists and could have had more. Reincke prevented another goal with a foot save, and Patton also drilled a shot off the left post — both in the second half. She now has a team-leading 23 goals for the season and 96 for her career.

“Makayla is strong, can hide and seal the ball, and she can strike and finish the ball with both feet,” Thomas said.

Flesch now has 12 goals and 10 assists on the season, while Stratton scored for the sixth time and dished out her team-best 12^th assist to help QND improve to 13-7-1. Stratton has 42 career assists.

The Raiders proved to be especially lethal on corner kicks, of which they were awarded 11.

“I like our corner kicks,” Thomas said. “Lilly is floating in some good balls. We’re dangerous in those situations, and we have to be. The further you get, especially against teams that are similar in talent, they can make a difference in winning or losing.”

Hillsboro, which closed the regular season by losing five of its final six games before beating North Mac in the regional semifinals, bows out at 8-10.

QND can now set its sights on Marquette, which has won nine of its last 10 games to improve to 14-6-2. Also in the sectional field is Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, which has eliminated the Raiders in each of the past two postseasons.

“We did tie (Marquette early in the season), but you can forget about that because it’s a whole new game and a new atmosphere,” Stratton said. “We’re going to play some great teams in front of us. We’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game and play as hard as we can.”