EAST PEORIA, Ill. — Only two teams in any IHSA state competition can end their season with a victory.
So St. Edward’s 4-1 triumph over Acero-Garcia on Saturday in the third-place match of the Class 1A soccer finals at EastSide Centre was no ordinary consolation prize.
“Oh my gosh, this is fantastic for these kids,” 23-year veteran St. Edward head coach Tim Brieger. “(Friday) night (a 2-0 semifinal loss to Monmouth-Roseville) was tough, so it was important they got another chance to show what we’re all about.”
Sophomore forward Josh Johansen struck for a pair of goals, and all-time program scoring leader AJ Franklin and Zach Olenek added one apiece. The Green Wave scored three times in a span of 11:28 midway through the second half to snap a 1-1 tie and put the finishing touches to a 27-2 season and their first trip to the state finals.
“I told the kids at half, ‘Let’s play like St. Ed’s, the team we were all season,’ ” Brieger said. ” ‘Let’s play smart, play bouncy, play quick.’ We picked it up (in the second half) and it kind of snowballed from there.”
Johansen took a long lead pass from sophomore teammate Chase Brieger and beat Garcia keeper Diego Vazquez on the far past to put St. Edward ahead to stay 2-1 at 55:20. Olenak then scored unassisted on a throw-in at 63:47, and Johansen connected again on a nice feed from Franklin just 4:01 later.
“We wanted this game so bad for all of our seniors,” Johansen said after collecting his 17th and 18th goals of the season. “I’ve been so fortunate to be on a team with this much talent.”
Early on, Franklin rifled home his 70th goal of the season from 24 yards out on an assist from Uriel Carachure to give the Green Wave a 1-0 lead at 18:29. Garcia (16-7-2) tied it on Marc Alvarado’s goal from point-blank range at 31:32 with an assist from Emanuel Rodriguez.
“Early on, I told the kids this is not St. Ed’s soccer,” Tim Brieger said. “I said, ‘Play like we can play. We didn’t come all this way not to play our game. If that wasn’t good enough, then so be it.’ “
With the game well in hand, the Green Wave tried to get Franklin into the state record book. But he never got the goal to match the single-season record of 71 set by Gordon Tech’s Robert Meschbach in 1976.
“It is what it is,” Franklin said. “It would have been kinda nice, but the important thing was to get the win.”
“That’s just the kind of kid he is,” Tim Brieger said. “Here we were trying to feed the beast late in the game to get the record, and the kids were like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ when it didn’t happen, but all he (Franklin) was concerned about was the team.”
Franklin, who is still weighing collegiate options, also finished with 139 career goals. That places him 10th on the IHSA all-time list.
Carlos Posada of Crete-Monee holds the mark of 177 from 2007-2011.
“This has been such a great experience,” Franklin said. “We’re really happy for coach, because he deserves this as much as anybody.”
Jim Hass is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.