Francis Parker’s goal of becoming the first city state champion since Harrison in 1973 was denied after a 5-1 semifinal loss to Winnebago Saturday morning.
The Colonels played from in front after Zac Ginsburg scored after an assist from freshman Sam Mintz in the 12th minute. Winnebago (23-2-3) found the equalizer when when a Andy Huftalin pass from the goal line was deflected in for an own goal with 1:04 left in the half.
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Winnebago took the game away from Parker with a sustained second-half attack. Three goals in a 11-minute span–Nathanael Rittmeyer (Huftalin) at 46 minutes, Logan Enlekas (Logan Fye) at 49 minutes, and Huftalin (assisted from brother and goalkeeper Nick)–ended Parker’s hopes.
The Indian defense limited Parker (17-7-2) to three shots on goal.
“Their center mids seemed to be their distributors,” Winnebago junior Chad Brokhausen said. “We concentrated on man marking and had our sweeper pick up everything else.”
The offense busted free for wide-open scores against defenseless Parker keeper Charlie Demar.
“They play very well through the middle of the field and caused a little bit of trouble for our defense,” said the senior, who was already looking ahead. “(We’ll) take it easy and look forward to a third-place finish.”
Francis Parker will face Rochester in the third-place game at 5 p.m. Saturday. Winnebago will play two-time defending Class A champion Waterloo Gibault for the championship at 7 p.m. Gibault defeated Rochester 4-0 in the other semifinal.