By Mark Gregory
@Hear_The_Beard
After a loss to Joliet West at the end of September, the Plainfield Central soccer team was searching for an identity.
The Wildcat captains stepped up the day after and challenged the team to move in the right direction.
“The day after that game, we had a practice and the captains spoke up at practice and we started coming together and kept getting better and better,” said Central goalie Shane Badertscher.
The improvement took Central all the way to winning the Geneva Regional title with a 3-0 shutout of District 202 rival Plainfield East.
It was the first regional soccer title for any Plainfield school.
“This game is very big for us,” said Central’s Joel Sanchez. “It was going to be us or them to make history and we wanted it to be us, we had that in our heads going in.”
Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said the coaching staff always had confidence in the team.
“We knew if we played well we could beat anyone and here we are,” Fitzgerald said. “They earned this and they deserve it.”
“[After the Joliet West game] I was searching at that point, trying to figure out what they wanted and apparently this is what they wanted and that’s good, because this is what we wanted too, so it worked out well. We knew it was possible and we always believed in them and I guess they gave us reason to.”
The Wildcats picked up goals from Edgar Cardenas, Hunter Fuss and Josh De Avila in the game along with great saves from Badertscher, including a stop on a Ceaser Montes penalty shot.
“We got that first goal off the corner kick and then two minutes later, they had a PK and I saw him move his hips and go to my right and I came out with a big save,” Badertscher said. “We knew they were good and they had beat us earlier during the regular season and we knew we had to come out hard.”
Central, the No. 15 seed, advanced to the sectional final with a 1-0 win over No. 2 Naperville Central, while No. 10 seed East beat Geneva by the same score.
While East lost the match, coach Cosimo Patano said he was happy with the way the season went.
“It is bittersweet. We were excited coming in, but any given day,” Patano said. “We came a long ways and we got better every day and that is all we can ask for. The guys bought in and that is all I can ask for as a coach.”
He said it is a step in the right direction for the Bengals.
“It lays the foundation and it creates that taste that ‘hey, we got a taste of it and we want to get it back,’” he said. “It will fuel some guys in the offseason to get it done and we will keep it in our goals to get to that big dance.
“It also creates that environment. We have some kids in the building that are on the fence about playing with club and all that, so maybe it will get more kids to come out and make it more competitive.”