By Eric Stock

NORMAL WEST – Normal West’s girls soccer team will be making its first trip to the state finals since 2014 as the Wildcats play St. Viator in the semifinals in Naperville at 1 p.m. Friday.

The final four teams in Class 2A have a combined 14 state finals appearances since 2002. This is the second trip to state for Val Walker’s Wildcats.

“All four teams have had very well represented programs that have gone to state multiple times and so have we,” Walker said. “The games are going to be challenging and with some luck , we hope to be on top.

St. Viator has three state titles in girls soccer; 2002, 2003 and 2005. Wheaton St. Francis which plays Lemont in the first semifinal Friday, won the title in 2012.

Walker said the Wildcats have been devoting extra time at practice to penatly kicks. He recalls how PKs proved costly for the Wildcats in the 2014 title game loss to Lake Forest.

“That’s one of the things we’ve addressed,” Walker said. “We make sure we are doing a lot of PKs at the end of practices to get ready for that moment.”

When the Wildcats the field at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wherli Stadium, it won’t be the Wildcats first time on artificial turf – far from it. Walker said he scheduled several games on artificial surfaces north of Interstate 80 this season, including games at Glenbrook South and the Lincoln Way Central “to get our girls mentally ready for that but also to have the experience playing on turf.”

The Wildcats also got experience on the field turf at Urbana where they won the sectional last week. The Wildcats play St. Viator in the Class 2A semifinals on Friday at 1.

Walker added the Wildcats aren’t happy just to make it to the state finals.

“We are the only one left in the Big 12 in our intercity areas It’s huge accomplishment,” Walker said. “The message to them, we’re not just going to participate, we are there to win the darn thing.”

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].