Monett’s offseason daydreams – or in the case of senior Carlos Izaguirre, aspirations four years in the making – came to fruition Friday afternoon in the Class 2 state semifinals in Fenton.
The Cubs, making their state soccer debut, knocked off defending Class 2 state champion O’Hara behind second-half goals from Jason Puente and Izaguirre. Monett faces the winner of Lutheran South vs. John Burroughs, which received nine of 10 first-place votes in the final state soccer regular season poll, at 2 p.m. Saturday at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton.
“This is something we’ve been talking about not just all summer, but ever since my freshman year. We’re not leaving here without winning it all, that’s for sure,” Izaguirre said. “It’s a dream come true to make it to the finals.”
Monett was on its heels to start, as the Celtics maintained possession but were unable to generate many quality looks on Monett goalkeeper Cameron Cody and a sturdy Cubs back line.
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The Cubs responded with a few counters and through balls to Puente, who also placed a free kick from about 25 yards just inches shy of the upper-right 90 late in the first half. Monett also hit post on a shot late in the first half, making the most of its limited opportunities.
“Even though we didn’t have possession the way we wanted to, we still looked dangerous,” said Monett coach Cristobal Villa. “We still had more opportunities on shots than (O’Hara). We just had to get a little more comfortable and not force shots.”
Monett’s patience paid off in the second half.
In the 49th minute, the Cubs found Puente near midfield and the sophomore had plenty of open space to take. He dribbled up about 30 yards and blasted a ball into the lower right corner for the goal.
“My teammate was like, “Go, go!” There was a ton of space, so I took it,” Puente said. “The defender was in front of me, I hesitated and beat him with a little bit of speed, then knocked it in.”
O’Hara almost got the equalizer moments later, but Cubs goal keeper Cameron Cody was in the perfect spot to knock away a clear one-timer by the Celtics inside the Monett 18.
Monett added a big insurance goal in the 63rd minute as Izaguirre gained possession on a loose ball in the middle from about 12 yards out and quickly capitalized.
“I saw the small gap and it was a no-brainer: I shot it,” Izaguirre said.
Monett withstood a last-gasp surge by O’Hara in the final 15 minutes, including a Celtics shot that drew post. O’Hara will close at the end of the 2016-17 school year, with its students transferring to St. Michael.
“Our goalkeeper was there, making two or three saves. He was there when he had to be there on shots on goal,” Villa said. “It was amazing the way our defense came down and played. Of course, our offense played the way they’ve played all season: score goals.”
Monett was out-shot 13-9 in the game, but the Cubs had the edge in shots on goal (6-2).
“It took us, gosh, 20 or 30 minutes to adapt and get used to this,” Villa said. “Our defense was strong, that gave us the potential to adapt a lot better and a lot sooner. When we did, we made the plays and made it happen.”
Izaguirre said that the Cubs hoped to “make a name for themselves, show people who Monett is,” this weekend. Step one taken, with Step two awaiting tomorrow in the Class 2 title game.
“It’s still a dream since we made it to this point,” Villa said. “We don’t want to wake up yet. We want to continue, we want to keep playing. We have one more game. We’ve had great support – parents, staff and the whole community. Monett believes in us. We’ve believed in ourselves. We know we can do this and we’re going to go give it everything we’ve got in that championship game.”
