Running against the wind: QND capitalizes on directional decision, buries BCC with first-half onslaught to reach state final four

CHILLICOTHE, Ill. — Mother Nature posed a challenge no matter which direction the Quincy Notre Dame boys soccer team chose to attack in the first half Wednesday night.

Sun in the eyes or wind in the face.

So Raiders coach Greg Reis asked goalkeepers coach Kasey Gerding for his opinion on which way to go.

“He was worried about the sun being in (QND goalkeeper Max Fereicks’s) eyes and causing problems,” Reis said. “Most of the time, most people would say go with the wind because you never know what’s going to happen in the second half. I put a lot of faith in Kasey, and he said to avoid the sun and go into the wind. So I felt comfortable with that.”

Gerding might need to offer his opinion again Friday based on how well this worked.

The Raiders scored four first-half goals despite the wind blowing directly into their faces to bury Bloomington Central Catholic and waltz their way to the final four with a 5-1 victory in the Class 1A Chillicothe Super-Sectional at Chillicothe IVC High School.

It provides the senior class the opportunity to bookend their careers with state trophies.

QND finished third at the Class 1A state tournament in 2019 when they were freshmen.

“It feels super amazing,” said QND senior forward Tanner Anderson, who scored three goals for his second consecutive postseason hat trick. “Going into freshman year, we got third. Hopefully senior year, this time around we will get first. Heading into it after our past few postseason games, we will definitely be on a roll.”

The Raiders (17-6-2) will face Elmhurst Timothy Christian (16-9) at 7 p.m. Friday at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria in the second of two state semifinals. Wheaton Academy and Belleville Althoff square off in the other semifinal at 5 p.m.

QND beat Timothy Christian 1-0 in the Great River Classic in Burlington, Iowa, in late September, but the Raiders played without two starters, including Anderson, who is QND’s career goal-scoring leader.

“I relish getting to play Timothy Christian again,” Reis said. “We know they’re a high-quality team, and with a full complement of players, I think it’s going to be a really fun game.”

And if given the choice at the start of it which way to go, the Raiders likely will have to defy convention again and choose to play into the wind.

“We might have to,” Anderson said. “It’s worked out pretty well in the postseason. So we’ll see on Friday what happens, but we got on them early and that was big for us.”

Scoring twice in the first 16 minutes put the Saints on their heels.

First, Anderson took a short corner and fed junior forward Leo Cann, who curled past a defender toward the middle of the field and laced a right-footed shot inside the near post. Shortly thereafter, Anderson was tackled from behind attacking from the right side and earned a penalty kick, which he buried for a 2-0 lead.

“Our guys were really strong,” Reis said. “We’ve done a really good job of jumping on teams and making them back-pedal and question what they’re in and what they’re going to do to be able to contain us. That’s nice.”

QND never relented.

Anderson and Cann both scored in the final 20 minutes of the half to double the lead. First, Cann converted off an Anderson flick for a 3-0 advantage with 13 minutes to play. Then with four minutes to go, Anderson hit a shot off the post that he jumped on the rebound and made the second attempt for the 4-0 lead.

“When you get to the postseason, especially the super-sectional, you know you’re not going to get a bunch of chances,” Anderson said. “So you have to capitalize on them. To get on them early and capitalize on the chances we had, it builds a lot of confidence going into the state tourney.”

A tactical change helped, too. QND slid Anderson to the midfield and gave him more freedom to create against a defense designed to clamp down on him.

“When we did that, he started to see the ball a little bit more,” Reis said. “It’s tough to man-mark a guy out of the game if he has free rein to run around wherever he wants to go. Tanner is a hell of a player and a smart enough player to find the pockets to get the ball and create.”

Two minutes into the second half, Anderson took a feed from Cann and scored his third goal to further diminish any hopes of a Saints’ comeback.

“Energy. Work rate,” Anderson said of the keys to the offensive success. “Like I’ve been saying since the beginning of the season, we came with a lot of energy, great work rate and our mentality was there. If we go into any game thinking we’re going to win, we have a shot.”

Defensively, the Raiders clamped down, too. QND allowed BCC only shot in the first half.

“Oh, that’s it?” Reis said.

The Saints generated a better attack in the second half, but Frericks made three crucial saves and it allowed Reis to empty his bench the final 10 minutes. The stinginess of a defense anchored by senior center backs Colin Kurk and Jake Hoyt made it possible.

The combination of seniors Rylan Fischer and Deakon Schuette, sophomore Brody Jones and freshman Channing Trevino on the wings has made the defense versatile and consistent in clearing the ball out of danger.

“Those guys have all stepped in and played some really good, quality minutes,” Reis said. “I feel pretty comfortable with any of those six guys back there, which is nice. We have options if something does happen. I’m just super proud of the guys.”

His appreciation for what this team has accomplished showed in his smile. This will be the fifth final four appearance in Reis’ 27 years at the helm, and the Raiders will be bringing home the eighth state trophy in program history.

“We’re pretty excited right now,” Reis said. “It’s been a fun run.”