Bunnies and Illineks meet in championship final after eventful semi-finals | Sport

FISHER — Ahead of Fisher/Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Class 1A boys soccer regional semifinal against Unity Saturday morning, senior Sid Pfoff gave a score prediction. His Bunnies were coming off a 1-0 win over the Rockets three weeks earlier, but he said he felt like he was winning 7-0 this time.

After leading the way by four goals himself, Pfoff proved to be exactly right as Fisher/GCMS controlled the game from start to finish for a 7-0 victory to earn a spot in Tuesday’s Fisher Regional championship.

“We thought it was going to be close,” Pfoff admitted afterward. “Setting up seven was shocking, but if everything clicks, it can happen.”

The Bunnies (18-3-1) immediately put the pressure on Unity (8-8-3), barely missing two shots in the opening minute and causing the crowd to collectively gasp. They kept up the pressure until they scored the first goal of the match in the eleventh minute, a David Hull corner that Spencer Kleist put into the back of the net.

However, the Bunnies could not buy a goal for the next twenty minutes, despite never taking their foot off the gas. They finished the match with 25 shots on target, but in the first half all signs pointed to another 1-0.

“One of our keys to the game was being patient,” Fisher/GCMS coach Robert Dinkins said. “They would be beefed up for regionals. The nerves just had to go away. Once they did that, they were executed from there, and that just opened up the game.”

Pfoff scored his first goal in the 32nd minute on an assist from Griffin Johnson, and then the floodgates opened. Three minutes later he found an open spot in front of the net again and put the ball in, assisted by Zack Zbinden. And with 33 seconds left in the first half, Hull gave another perfect corner to Kleist, who headed the ball home.

Pfoff scored twice more in the second half thanks to assists from Mason Doman and Hull, and Daniel Santos set up the final goal in the 62nd minute, assisted by Zbinden.

Fisher/GCMS goalie Parker Baillie recorded two saves, extending his and the team’s single-season shutout record to 17 games. Together with this year’s defensive prowess, the Bunnies’ seven goals on Saturday gave them 107 goals in the campaign, breaking the previous season’s record of 105.

“It was a dream. This is the best thing that could have happened this year,” said Pfoff. “It feels great to be on a team like this because a lot of people don’t experience this. Our class only lost 12 games in high school. It’s an unreal number, and it’s fun to be a part of it.”

The Bunnies, who have now won seven games in a row, are playing their best football at the perfect time, and the cause goes back to their last two Rivals Cup defeats. Zbinden, one of the team’s leading scorers and an All-State talent, had a card situation during the tournament and was suspended for the next six games, but Fisher/GCMS found a way to turn it into something positive.

“Having Zack out was almost a blessing in disguise because it gave other guys an opportunity to get out,” Dinkins said. “We moved some guys around and they showed they could anchor in those spots. It has given us more depth. When we added him back into the mix, everything started to click at the right time. Last week against T-Town was the best game we’ve played all year, and that trickled down (Saturday).

On the other side of the court, the Rockets’ season didn’t end exactly as they would have liked, but coach Michel Stringer made sure to highlight everything his team accomplished. Eight wins doesn’t jump off the page, but it becomes even more impressive when you consider that Unity didn’t win a single game just three years ago.

“We don’t come from a football school. There is no secret,” Stringer said. “They have to work hard for everything they do. They can be proud of the season they have had. They had to work very hard for the season they had, and I want them to be proud of that.”

Illineks squeak by Sabers on penalty kicks

The second match of the day at Kellar Field saw a little more excitement and a lot more drama, as Uni High fended off a late comeback from St. Thomas More after a 3-3 draw at the end of regulation time, two scoreless overtime periods and five rounds of penalty kicks.

“All praise for STM. They fought hard and gave us everything they had,” Uni High coach Joe Krehbiel said. “My message to the team was just about the maturity they showed to get through that. We have a lot of seniors who have been through a lot of football and all these situations. Once we got to the penalties I knew they would take care of business. Crazy game. I’m happy that I can move on.”

Uni High (17-6) senior Aiden Kim broke up the pregame huddle with a “Let’s send them home!” and for the first 75 minutes it looked like the Illineks would have no problem with that. They got on the board in the 16th minute with a goal from Shabi Prasanth, and Tristen Ting added six minutes later.

STM (9-7-4) scored its first goal in the 32nd minute off the foot of William Grissom. A few minutes later the drama started.

The teams spent much of the first half whistling back and forth and received multiple warnings from the officials. With just over two minutes to go until halftime, STM’s Campbell Leibach was shown a red card for taunting. Coach Zach Megginson called the call and then received his second yellow card of the match, which automatically resulted in a red card. That meant the Sabers would be at a one-man disadvantage on the field and without their head coach for the remainder of the game.

Henry Wang scored again for Uni High midway through the second half, giving the Illineks a 3-1 lead, and from then on they went into cruise control.

STM made a last-ditch effort and tied the game in the final five minutes of regulation despite being shorthanded. Riley Hogan and Owen Yeagor scored to give the Sabers all kinds of belief and momentum heading into overtime. Megginson said he felt STM had to play a perfect game to win. The Sabers were far from perfect – in fact, everything that could have gone wrong did – but they had a chance.

“I think we only had two chances in the second half, and they were both in the last five minutes, and we put them away,” Megginson said. “I thought it was over. It just appeals to them. They just don’t give up.”

The Illineks controlled possession for most of extra time, but neither team could score, meaning they would decide the winner via penalties.

Wang, Prasanth and Ting scored for Uni High. STM’s Will Devocelle found the back of the net, but Illinek goalkeeper Muahmmad Iftikhar made a pair of saves to earn the victory.

“I think I’m very strong in horsepower. We practice them every day,” Iftikhar said. “During the whole extra time I didn’t even necessarily want us to score. I wanted it to go to PKs because I knew we were going to win the game.”

It was a tough way out for the Sabers, but winning nine games and making it to the regional semifinals after winning just four games last year was a big step forward.

“We really didn’t know what to expect this year,” Megginson said. “These guys have worked so hard and put in so much effort to get this program back to what it should be. They have a bright future ahead of them and I am very excited for them.”

Uni High continues to host Fisher/GCMS for a regional championship. They will compete against each other on Tuesday at 5:30 PM, a repeat of the title match from three years ago.

“I don’t want to remind Fisher fans of the same situation in 2021 when we beat them 5-0,” Krehbiel said with a grin. “All these guys were freshmen at the time, so they remember it. We know it won’t be an easy game, but we’re going into it with confidence.”