Thomey, Emmert help SJO soccer open postseason with win

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Win or go home. That’s the situation facing the St. Joseph-Ogden High School soccer team.

So far, so good. The Spartans opened the postseason with an 8-0 triumph against Unity on Saturday in St. Joseph. The Class 1A regional quarterfinal win advances SJO (13-8-1) to a 4:30 p.m. regional semifinal match against Monticello on Wednesday at St. Thomas in Champaign.

Collin Thomey and Jared Emmert each scored three goals in the lopsided win against Unity, with Owen Baltzell and Jackson Greer each supplying a goal. Emmert and Greer each compiled two assists, while Hunter Ketchum (five saves) and Carter Mabry (two saves) combined on the shutout.

Prior to the start of the postseason, SJO won four of its final six regular season matches. The Spartans defeated Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 4-0 at home last Thursday, beat Rantoul 5-3 at home on Sept. 30, beat Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Westville 2-1 at home on Sept. 25 and knocked off St. Thomas More in an impressive 1-0 home win on Sept. 23. Those wins were sandwiched around a 7-0 home loss to Monticello on Oct. 5 and an 8-1 loss at Bloomington Central Catholic on Sept. 28.
Thomey, Greer, Logan Mills and Olivia Baltzel each scored first-half goals in the win against ALAH, which was stopped in the second half because of lightning. Emmert added two assists, with Ketchum (five saves) and Mabry (three saves) teaming up to earn the shutout.

In the win against Rantoul, SJO overcame a 2-1 deficit. Owen Baltzell scored two goals to lead the offense, with Greer, Emmert and Thomey each contributing a goal. Greer had two assists, while William Page and Spenser Wilson each chipped in an assist. Ketchum finished with 11 saves.

The Spartans fell behind 2-0 at Bloomington Central Catholic before Page got SJO on the scoreboard with a goal to trim its deficit to 2-1. But the host Saints responded with six unanswered goals to cruise to the win. Ketchum finished with 26 saves for the Spartans.

In the win against Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Westville, both teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half before the Buffaloes went ahead 1-0. SJO, however, responded with a goal from Emmert on an assist by Brennan Haake before Wilson scored the game-winning goal. Ketchum made nine saves during the Spartans’ third straight win.

Win or go home. That’s the situation facing the St. Joseph-Ogden High School soccer team.

So far, so good. The Spartans opened the postseason with an 8-0 triumph against Unity on Saturday in St. Joseph. The Class 1A regional quarterfinal win advances SJO (13-8-1) to a 4:30 p.m. regional semifinal match against Monticello on Wednesday at St. Thomas in Champaign.

Collin Thomey and Jared Emmert each scored three goals in the lopsided win against Unity, with Owen Baltzell and Jackson Greer each supplying a goal. Emmert and Greer each compiled two assists, while Hunter Ketchum (five saves) and Carter Mabry (two saves) combined on the shutout.

Prior to the start of the postseason, SJO won four of its final six regular season matches. The Spartans defeated Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 4-0 at home last Thursday, beat Rantoul 5-3 at home on Sept. 30, beat Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Westville 2-1 at home on Sept. 25 and knocked off St. Thomas More in an impressive 1-0 home win on Sept. 23. Those wins were sandwiched around a 7-0 home loss to Monticello on Oct. 5 and an 8-1 loss at Bloomington Central Catholic on Sept. 28.
Thomey, Greer, Logan Mills and Olivia Baltzel each scored first-half goals in the win against ALAH, which was stopped in the second half because of lightning. Emmert added two assists, with Ketchum (five saves) and Mabry (three saves) teaming up to earn the shutout.

In the win against Rantoul, SJO overcame a 2-1 deficit. Owen Baltzell scored two goals to lead the offense, with Greer, Emmert and Thomey each contributing a goal. Greer had two assists, while William Page and Spenser Wilson each chipped in an assist. Ketchum finished with 11 saves.

The Spartans fell behind 2-0 at Bloomington Central Catholic before Page got SJO on the scoreboard with a goal to trim its deficit to 2-1. But the host Saints responded with six unanswered goals to cruise to the win. Ketchum finished with 26 saves for the Spartans.

In the win against Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Westville, both teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half before the Buffaloes went ahead 1-0. SJO, however, responded with a goal from Emmert on an assist by Brennan Haake before Wilson scored the game-winning goal. Ketchum made nine saves during the Spartans’ third straight win.

In the close win against STM, which won its first 14 matches this season, Wilson scored a second-half goal off an assist from Emmert to provide the only goal in the Illini Prairie match. Ketchum made six saves in preserving the shutout and key win.