By Bryan Bloodworth
BLOOMINGTON – The boys’ soccer team from Cornerstone Christian Academy of Bloomington makes history Friday as the first team to make an appearance in the state finals when it meets Westchester St. Joseph at 5 p.m. in East Peoria in a Class 1A battle.
Meanwhile, University High makes its fourth trip to the state finals when it faces Waterloo Gibault at 7 p.m. in the other Class 1A semifinal. The winners meet for the state championship Saturday at 5 p.m.
PODCAST: Hear full interview with Stanton here.
PODCAST: Hear full interview with Knapp here.
Cornerstone Christian has won seven straight for a 22-3-1 record while St. Joseph counters with a 12-8 mark. U-High, winner of five straight, checks in with a 15-6-5 record and Waterloo Gibault is 15-7-1. The Pioneers are making their first state appearance since 2001.
“This group has put in a lot of work over the last couple of months, so I’m really proud of what this group has been able to accomplish,” said U-High coach Jeremy Stanton, whose team has eight new starters this year, including four sophomores and a freshman.
“We have a bunch of new faces, who have really clicked and jelled lately,” added Stanton. “We’ve had our ups and downs this season, but we’re playing our best right now.”
Stanton added that he’s not totally surprised his team is playing in the state finals.
“I knew we had it in us and that we could be here,” he continued. “But we had to put games together and be consistent. I think it’s going to be a more offensive (game). They have four great attacking players, so we are going to have to play well defensively. For us we want it to be defensive, but we’re both offensive-minded and put up a lot of goals.”
Cornerstone coach Jeremy Knapp was optimistic about his team at the beginning of the year.
“We returned a lot of players from last year and added a couple of talented new players,” he said. “What surprised me somewhat is their level of consistency and competitiveness and what they bring each day.
“The expectation and focus each year is to take the talent and abilities God gave us and make the most of them.”
What type of match does Knapp anticipate?
“I expect a match of a couple of contrasting styles,” he added. “St. Joseph is a very attack-minded, direct type of team. We’ll look to go more somewhat of the opposite way, definitely looking to attack the goal, but looking to do it more through a more disciplined possession style by spreading them out and looking for the seams.
“We’ve got the firepower up front. It will be a battle of whether or not defensively across the field we can contain their talent. They’re more of a free flowing team. We’ll give it our best shot and see where we end up.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
