Wildcat soccer wins regional, aims to win first sectional title
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Anna-Jonesboro/Cobden Wildcats boys’ soccer team won the A-J regional bracket, outscoring their opponents 15-0 on the way to the title. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">With the championship, the Wildcats have now won the regional title back-to-back and advanced to the Waterloo Gibault Catholic sectional. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats opened regional play on Tuesday, Oct. 13, with a 10-0 short-game blowout of an out manned Harrisburg squad. The Bulldogs have struggled with injuries all year and the Wildcats proved to be too much. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats were led in scoring by Zach Parr and Jaryt Tripp with three goals apiece. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Also scoring for A-JC were Dakota Earnhart, Jared Collier, Justin Moore and Juan Miranda. Collier also had an assist. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Jake Parr played 80 minutes in goal and had one save in the shutout.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">With the win the Cats moved on to the championship game that was played on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Anna. The Wildcats faced Breese Central, which had advanced with a 2-0 victory over Mt. Carmel on Wednesday, Oct. 14.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Cats started strong but several shots were sent straight to Central’s keeper. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">At the 25 minute mark of the first half Alejandro Peneda received a pass from Ryan Stark and dribbled the ball up the left side before making a through pass beyond the reach of the Central defender. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Zach Parr went between two Central defenders to get a touch on the ball and with one additional dribble shot from the left side towards the back right past the diving Central keeper for the first goal of the game and a Wildcat 1-0 lead. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">That score opened the floodgate a bit as Parr scored three more before half on assists from Jaryt Tripp and John Russell. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The 4-0 halftime lead left the Cats feeling confident about winning their second consecutive regional championship.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Cats got another goal from Parr early in the second half to make the score 5-0 and from there worked on possession and formation as they cruised to the final minutes and held on to the 5-0 win. With the championship win the Cats improved to 16-5-1 on the season.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The win also set up a game in the sectional semi-final with Waterloo Gibault Catholic (13-9) on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The host Hawks won their own regional with a 6-0 win over Freeburg in the championship. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Cats and Hawks played earlier in the season and the Cats fell to Gibault 6-2 in a game that coach Mark Boomer described as “frustrating.” </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“We just did not play the way we are capable of playing when we met them last month. We are a much better team than we played that day,” Boomer said.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">If the Cats won Tuesday they will play for their first sectional championship Friday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. in Columbia at Oerter Park against the winner of Breese Mater Dei vs. Belleville Althoff Catholic.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Hopefully by the time your readers see this we will be asking for all the fans of Anna-Jonesboro and Cobden to come to Columbia on Friday night to help us get our first sectional championship,” Boomer said. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“It is never an easy task beating a perennial power like Gibault, much less in the playoffs where they find success year in and year out. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“But we will go and give it our best shot. I know our kids have the right attitude and I have no doubt they will leave all they have on the field. That is all I can ask.”</span></p>