Playing well into the first week of October is what all high school boys’ soccer programs in the state of Illinois want to achieve.
Well, St. Joseph-Ogden High School is certainly doing that.
The Spartans have won five matches in a row, including a solid 1-0 win at Monticello on Tuesday, going into their regular-season finale at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond.
SJO has stayed plenty busy the last two-plus weeks, playing 10 matches in a 15-day span. All of the matches haven’t seemed to affect the Spartans’ quality of play, with coach Bill DeJarnette’s program compiling an 8-2 record in that stretch.
The stretch continues Thursday at ALAH and then, much like the trend of the past two weeks, another match awaits SJO on Friday. But Friday’s 4:30 p.m. home match against Blue Ridge increases in importance since this is a Class 1A regional quarterfinal match.
Beat Blue Ridge and the Spartans (15-4-1) see their season continue next week. Lose against the Knights, however, and the superb season SJO has put together comes to an end.
Here’s a recap of how the Spartans have gone on a late-season run of success:
Final Illini Prairie match nets important win
SJO’s win at Monticello on Tuesday meant the Spartans finished with a 5-2 record in Illini Prairie Conference action this season.
Sophomore Logan Mills provided the match’s only goal, staking SJO to a 1-0 lead by halftime that the Spartans managed to hold on against a talented Monticello team.
Fellow sophomore Alex Acosta assisted on Mills’ goal, with senior Hunter Ketchum standing tall in net and making seven saves to help SJO notch its seventh shutout of the season.
Balanced offense lifts SJO by Watseka
Four different Spartans scored as SJO defeated Watseka 4-0 at home on Monday in a nonconference match.
Freshman Ryker Lockhart gave SJO a 1-0 lead before goals by Acosta and freshman Zach Harper extended the Spartans’ advantage to 3-0 by halftime.
Sophomore Collin Thomey added SJO’s fourth goal in the second half, with seniors Aiden Cromwell, Will Page and Jackson Greer each handing out one assist.
Senior Carter Mabry made four saves in the second half after junior Spencer Wilson played the first half in goal.
SJO holds on against St. Anne
The Spartans defeated St. Anne 6-4 this past Friday during a home nonconference match that saw SJO take a 6-0 lead before hanging on for the win.
Acosta scored three goals to lead the offensive charge, with Mills adding two goals and Thomey also supplying a goal.
Mills chipped in two assists, with Acosta and Thomey also having one assist apiece. Greer and Mabry combined to make five saves in goal.
Spartans shut out Eagles
An Illini Prairie road match at Rantoul featured a 5-0 win for the Spartans on Sept. 29.
Greer and Harper each scored two goals for the Spartans, who led 2-0 at halftime and extended its margin of victory in the second half. Acosta added the other goal for SJO, with senior Will Childers, Greer, Mills and Page each contributing an assist.
Ketchum, Greer and Mabry each made one save to collect the combined shutout.
SJO earns win against Iroquois West
The Spartans took a 3-0 lead into halftime and then kept Iroquois West from pulling off a comeback in a 4-2 home nonconference win on Sept. 28 in St. Joseph.
Mills, Greer and Thomey each scored a first-half goal as SJO led 3-0 at halftime, with sophomore Will Besson and Childers assisting on two goals.
Senior Garret Seems gave SJO a 4-0 lead with a second-half goal off an assist from Thomey.
Freshman Jacik Slowikowski made two saves and Mabry finished with one save.
Spartans fall against Saints
Bloomington Central Catholic defeated the host Spartans 3-0 on Sept. 27 in an Illini Prairie match in St. Joseph.
The Saints led 2-0 at halftime and didn’t let the Spartans get back in the game in the second half. Ketchum and Slowikowski each made three saves against the program that placed third last season at the Class 1A state tournament.
SJO hits 10-win mark against Judah Christian
SJO defeated Judah Christian 4-0 at home in a nonconference match on Sept. 26 as Acosta, Crowell and Thomey each scored first-half goals to put the Spartans ahead 3-0.
Mills added the fourth goal in the second half off an assist from Childers, with Lockhart also coming through with an assist in the first half.
Spartans rally by Buffaloes
Facing a 1-0 halftime deficit against Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Westville in a Sept. 24 nonconference match in Georgetown, the Spartans rallied for a 2-1 victory.
Thomey tied the match at 1 with a goal off an assist from Lockhart before Lockhart scored the game-winning goal later in the second half via an assist by Wilson.
Ketchum made two saves in the first half and Slowikowski made two saves in the second half.
STM too much for Spartans
SJO saw its four-match win streak end on Sept. 22 with a 2-0 loss at St. Thomas More in Illini Prairie play.
The Spartans trailed 1-0 at halftime and couldn’t make up the difference in the second half, especially after the Sabers scored to take a 2-0 lead.
Ketchum ended up with four saves for SJO in only the second match all season the Spartans failed to score at least one goal.
SJO eases by rival
The Spartans traveled to Tolono on Sept. 20 and came home with a 4-0 victory against rival Unity in Illini Prairie action.
The Spartans led 1-0 at halftime on a goal by Greer that was assisted by Thomey before the offense picked up even more pace in the second half.
Cromwell, Lockhart and Acosta each scored goals after halftime, with Wilson and Mills also handing out one assist apiece.
Ketchum (six saves) and Mabry (two saves) combined on the shutout.
What’s next
Posteason play awaits SJO after its regular-season finale on Thursday at ALAH.
SJO received the sixth seed in its 12-team sub-sectional that feeds into the St. Thomas More Sectional.
The Spartans will face 12th-seeded Blue Ridge for the second time this season at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in St. Joseph. SJO beat the Knights 5-2 on Sept. 12 in Farmer City.
If SJO defeats Blue Ridge again, it would advance to a regional semifinal match at 6 p.m. next Wednesday against third-seeded Fisher/Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at the Fisher Community Fairgrounds.
Ninth-seeded Schlarman plays at seventh-seeded Argenta-Oreana at 10 a.m. Saturday in the other regional quarterfinal match, with the winner advancing to play second-seeded St. Thomas More at 4 p.m. next Wednesday in Fisher in the first regional semifinal match.
The two regional semifinal winners next Wednesday are set to meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 in the regional championship match.
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