Ready to play games that ‘mean something,’ Blue Devils embark on quest to claim championships

QUINCY — Hanging out together after their Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage last week, the Quincy High School girls soccer players found themselves yearning to play a game that mattered.

“It was just so fun being out there,” junior midfielder Rian Moore said. “We just want it to be real. We want it to mean something.”

Tuesday night, it means everything — more than most season openers typically do.

The Blue Devils kick off their season at Flinn Stadium against Moline with the potential to give themselves a leg up in the Western Big 6 Conference title chase. Quincy is the defending WB6 champion, regaining the title it last won in 2019. No champion was crowned in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Geneseo won the league title in 2021.

“The fact we open with a conference game makes it even more exciting,” Moore said. “We know this makes or breaks our conference title hopes. So there is no question whether win or not. We have to win. We have to show up and be ready.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We’re going to play the same way every game. It doesn’t matter the name of your team. We’re going to play the same way. We’re going to get after it.”

The Blue Devils want to repeat as WB6 champions, but they want so much more.

That starts with winning a regional crown. Quincy’s last regional title came in 2010 and it hasn’t played for a regional title since 2015. Last year may have been the closest the Blue Devils have come to advancing, losing 1-0 to Edwardsville in the regional semifinals.

“Outside of Edwardsville’s loss, we were the only team to hold them to one goal in the postseason,” Quincy coach Travis Dinkheller said.

Disappointing in the moment, that outcome is inspiring now. It gives the Blue Devils faith they can do more than compete at the Class 3A level. They believe they can win.

“The thing I like most about this group is our mentality,” Moore said. “It’s just so different than how we were last year. Each day, we show up to practice — whether it’s going to be an easy practice that we know of or a hard practice — and we have the mindset that we want to be better than last year and get to our end goals.”

The practice effort has been consistent.

“They’ve gotten after it. They take their job seriously,” Dinkheller said. “They come to practice and they bring it every single day and try to make themselves better. It’s something we’ve been preaching. Make yourself better every day.”

The Blue Devils finally feel they are. Talented but inexperienced the last two seasons, they made significant strides in their competitiveness — they went 8-5-4 in 2021 and 12-7-1 last season — and believe it’s time for a bigger breakthrough.

Quincy returns a pair of all-sectional midfielders in juniors Bri Lannerd and Moore. Last season, Lannerd led the Blue Devils with 14 goals and 10 assists, while Moore finished with five goals and 11 assists. Sophomore midfielder Sydney Welsh earned all-sectional honorable mention last season.

They will have a group of speedy, savvy forwards to get the ball to, including sophomore Taylor Routh and senior Kenzie O’Brien.

“Do we have the ability to score? Yes. Do I want us to continue to work on finishing? Absolutely,” Dinkheller said. “A lot of times, we create the opportunity and we shoot the ball. Now we have to finish it. I keep telling them there is a difference.”

The better the Blue Devils finish, the more it takes pressure off the defense.

Junior goalkeeper Taylor Fohey returns and has four experienced players in front of her in Mariah Crist, Anna Morrison, Maddie O’Brien and Ava Soltwedel. It should be a stout backwall that quickly gets the ball out of danger allows the midfielders and forwards to attack.

“We move the ball really well,” Dinkheller said. “We play to space really well. Honestly, we’ve been fast doing it. I’m anxious to see what it looks like another varsity team. As far as preseason has gone, I’m asking myself, ‘Have we ever been this fast and this crisp this early?’

“We have a group of kids who are comfortable with the ball at their feet. They have the vision and the feel and the awareness to be able to put themselves into spaces.”

Space equals opportunity, which is what the Blue Devils want.

“Last year, we didn’t meet our full potential,” Moore said. “This year, we’re determined to do that.”