Illiana Christian advances

PEOTONE | It wasn't how Illiana Christian coach Chip Bevan drew it up, but he'll take it.

The Vikings, playing without three senior starters, were able to grind out a win at the 1A Peotone Regional on Wednesday afternoon. Mike Fiene had the lone goal of the match off of a free kick by Mike Waldmarson. Fiene's goal came at 29:09 in the second half and Waldmarson was credited with the assist. The Vikings advance to face host Peotone in the regional final on Friday.

"We have three seniors gone on a senior trip," Bevan said. "Now we have three players injured so we're basically six men down from our original roster. It's tough, but given those facts I think the boys played well. The kids are playing well but it's just been tough. Those circumstances are tough to overcome when your players aren't here."

On the Viking's scoring play, Waldmarson took a free kick from midfield that lofted into the Beecher box where Fiene was able to chip it in and send it into the Bobcat's goal.

"I saw the ball coming in and usually we rush the goalie to try and distract him first," Fiene said. "I saw the ball and thought, 'That's going over the defender's head.' I just tapped it and it went in."

Beecher was unable to get anything going offensively throughout the game, and key saves by Illiana Christian goalie Isaac Lindahl kept the Bobcats at bay. Lindahl finished the game with seven saves in the shutout win.

"That's what I'm here for," Lindahl said. "To stop it. I think the tide's really turning for us. We lost a lot of key games that were really close. Finally we're starting to win the close games."

The loss was a crushing defeat for the Bobcats, who had high hopes of making a run deep into the tournament.

"I was really concerned coming into regionals because I know Illiana's a real good team," Beecher coach Dawn Compton said. "We did everything we normally do except put the ball in the back of the net."

The Vikings will now face Peotone in Friday's final at 4 p.m. The Vikings lost to the Blue Devils 1-0 earlier in the season at Peotone. The Vikings will be missing five starters for the game due to absence and injury.

"I think Friday's going to be a real tough game," Bevan said. "Under normal circumstances I think it would be a really good game. Now it's going to be really tough. I probably only have eleven guys with two kids I brought up from JV. We're going to have to play a strong defensive game."