Raiders struggle to finish chances, Trojans bounce QND from postseason

CHILLICOTHE, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame boys soccer team gave itself a string of opportunities to erase Mendota’s lead in Saturday’s Class 1A Chillicothe IVC Sectional championship.

The Raiders just couldn’t find a way to survive.

QND knocked a couple of shots off the crossbar, saw Mendota goalkeeper Manny Trejo stop a penalty kick and was frustrated by a no-call on an apparent foul with two minutes to play in regulation that saddled the Raiders with a 3-2 loss.

“Great chances and we did a lot of nice stuff,” QND coach Greg Reis said. “That’s the game of soccer.”

So is having luck on your side.

Playing without senior goalkeeper Ethan Sparrow, who was ill, the Raiders fell behind 1-0 midway through the first half when the Trojans mishit a cross that carried over QND backup goalkeeper Jake Schisler into the net.

“It was kind of a shock for us,” Reis said. “It was a cross that was shanked into the goal.”

It stayed a one-goal game until halftime, but Mendota scored early in the second half to make it 2-0. 

“They were good,” QND coach Greg Reis said. “They were a very talented team and played really hard.”

The Raiders finally responded with 21 minutes remaining when senior defender Logan Zanger moved up into the attack and headed home a shot off a set piece to make it 2-1. QND hit the crossbar with 14 minutes to play, and junior forward Tanner Anderson was taken down in the box with 11 minutes to play.

However, his penalty kick was knocked down by the 6-foot-2 Trejo.

“The keeper made the right save,” Reis said. “Tanner didn’t hit a terrible shot. The kid laid out nicely.”

The Raiders tied the game five minutes later, only to concede the go-ahead goal a minute later. QND created a couple of scoring chances after that, and a no-call when midfielder Ben Frericks was taken down in the box with two minutes remaining irritated the QND sideline.

“I thought it was a PK from our sideline,” Reis said. “I asked a couple of soccer savvy parents and they said it’s a penalty all day every day regardless of where you are on the field.”

The Raiders finish the season with a 16-6-3 record.