Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Triad boys soccer team eyes first trip to state

Must get past Champaign Centennial in tonight's game

The Triad Knights once again are knocking on the door.

Triad (14-9-2) will play Champaign Centennial (18-9-1) in the Class 2A Springfield Super-Sectional at 3 p.m. today at the University of Illinois-Springfield. A victory would give the Knights their first state-tournament appearance.

"This is as far as we've ever gotten in Triad's history, and this is two years in a row now we're going to the super-sectional," said Triad coach Mike Villa, whose team defeated Marion 1-0 on Friday in O'Fallon to win the Jerseyville Sectional. "We would like to that that next step."

Triad was in a similar position last season, but it lost to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 3-0 in the Jacksonsville Super-Sectional. The Cyclones went on to finish second to Peoria Notre Dame in the state tournament.

The Knights lack the firepower of last season when they had seniors Jared Tejada (29 goals, 17 assists) and Kenji Kobayashi (15 goals, 12 assists).

"We create opportunities; we don't finish as well," Villa said. "We had Jared Tejada last year and he was a force to be reckoned with. When you have a guy like that who you know can score, it makes you dangerous all the time.

"This year, it's more of a team effort, although (senior) Kyle Hoggatt's kind of stepped up into that role. In the last two or three weeks, he's really come on and played some great soccer. The way he's playing right now, he should be an all-state player. He's as good as anybody. That kind of gives us that scorer up top."

The winner of the game today will play Freeport or Aurora Marmion Academy in the semifinals of the state tournament at 11 a.m. Friday at North Central College in Naperville. Freeport and Aurora Marmion Academy meet at 5 p.m. today in the Barrington Super-Sectional.

Hoggatt leads the Knights with 14 goals and 12 assists. Sophomore midfielder Blake Thomas has nine goals and four assists and senior forward Gus Wagner has eight goals and five assists. Senior Jake Terveer has a 0.92 goals-against average.

"We've got some kids that can score," Villa said. "We don't have Kenji Kobayashi and Jared Tejada. But we're getting it done."

Villa has been impressed with the way his team has rounded into form. Since Oct. 3, the Knights have won nine of 10.

"These kids have really come on here at the end and we're playing a lot better," Villa said. "We've got a bunch of seniors and most of them hadn't started until this year. They're starting to get it together and play pretty good soccer right now. We're pretty tough to score on."

Centennial has a Division I player in senior midfielder Jacob Bushue, who has signed with Indiana. Bushue has 22 goals and 12 assists.

Sophomore forward Brent Loth (nine goals, four assists), junior midfielder Ben Flodstron (six goals, 12 assists) and junior forward Garrett Sommer (six goals) rounds out the Chargers' attack.

Freshman Andy Drackley is the starter in goal and has a 1.42 goals-against average.