No Reis, no worries: Raiders open state title defense with whitewashing of Tornadoes

MONMOUTH, Ill. — If Greg Reis had any long-distance concerns, all he would have had to do is pull out his phone and take one glance at social media to alleviate them quite quickly.

The updates, like the goals, came fast and furious.

The Quincy Notre Dame boys soccer coach missed Saturday’s postseason opener in the Class 1A Monmouth-Roseville Regional for the wedding of his youngest son, Cooper, but the Raiders took care of business without him, scoring seven goals in the first 20 minutes of an 8-1 victory over Abingdon-Avon at Pattee Fields.

“With Greg there, obviously it’s a little different,” senior forward Leo Cann said. “We have such a good coaching staff as it is, so we know we’re in good hands.”

And the effort didn’t change without him.

“We played how we’ve been playing and we played how he wants us to play,”  junior midfielder Rylan Fischer said. “We did everything he wanted us to do.”

Still, Reis will be a welcome sight back on the sideline when he returns for Wednesday’s regional championship.

“It’s pretty nice to have him there,” Fischer said.

Third-seeded QND (9-10-1) will face second-seeded Monmouth-Roseville (18-5-1) at 4 p.m. Wednesday for the regional crown. The Raiders, who are the defending Class 1A state champions, have won eight consecutive regional titles, while the Titans haven’t won a regional since 2018.

The Titans advanced with a 7-0 victory over Macomb.

“We have to come out and attack and put them on their heels,” Cann said.

The Raiders attacked from the get-go Saturday, ignoring the cold, windy conditions and the fact rain was spitting throughout the match.

Less than four minutes into the game, Fischer took a ball to the corner and delivered a cross which Cann tucked into the lower right side of the net for a 1-0 lead. A foul in the box led to a penalty kick for Cann three minutes later. The lead ballooned to 3-0 when Cann took the ball to the left corner and crossed it into the box where Fischer finished for the first of his four goals.

A defensive miscue allowed the Tornadoes to score with 30:20 remaining in the first half.

“I’ll give props to them,” Cann said of Abingdon-Avon. “Most teams that we play, if we go up with three or four goals in the first 10 minutes, they really fall down. Abingdon fought until the very end. They played the entire game through.”

Less than two minutes after giving up a goal, the Raiders answered.

Off a punt by QND goalkeeper Max Frericks, Fischer flicked a header to Cann, who beat the goalkeeper for a 4-1 lead. Fischer scored off a Brody Jones assist to make it 5-1, and Cann drove a ball into the box from the left side that Fischer headed in for a 6-1 edge. Jones then curled in a corner kick for a 7-1 lead halfway through the first half.

Fischer buried a penalty kick with 29 minutes remaining to invoke the mercy rule.

“I thought we dominated the midfield and found Leo up top,” Fischer said. “We just executed.”

The Raiders got their title defense started the right way, too.

“I think it was good, especially for kids who have not played much in the postseason because it kind of gives them confidence on what to expect,” Fischer said. “It was just a good confidence booster for everyone, too, just to start off right.”