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Moline girls soccer team eyes regional title

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By Jon Gremmels | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:24 AM CDT | () comments

Coming off the disappointment of going undefeated in the Western Big Six

Conference but still not winning the league championship, Moline has a new target in girls soccer. The Maroons are taking aim at the regional title.

“Now what matters is the second season,” coach Rick Sanchez said. “We’ll take it as a two-game season.”

The Maroons had positioned themselves well to earn a share of the conference title by tying Quincy earlier in the season. But they had to settle for a 1-1 tie with United Township last week, and their 3-0-2 finish left them a half-game behind Quincy for first place.

“Obviously, that’s a little disappointing in the last game against United Township,” Sanchez said. “We felt we played well enough to win. I told the girls that that’s the intensity we need to take going into the regional.”

Low-scoring games don’t surprise Sanchez, though.

“We’re not an offensive power of a team,” he said. “It’s important for us to

continue playing good defense and getting good play from our goalkeeper.”

Sophomore Amanda Smith has been strong in front of the net, and senior Katie Becht leads the defense, while senior forward Kara Johnson heads the offense that has four players scoring between four and six goals. The Maroons have to play without a key senior, though. A knee injury probably has ended the season for Kimber Soots.

Moline (8-5-4) is the highest seed (second in the sectional) in its Class AA regional and opens tournament play at 4:30 p.m. today at the Dunlap, facing Galesburg in the opening round.

The winner plays Peoria Richwoods or Dunlap in Saturday’s regional final.

“Richwoods beat us 1-0, but I don’t know too much about Dunlap,” Sanchez said.

While Moline travels to Dunlap to open the postseason, four other Quad-City area teams will play in a semifinal doubleheader Wednesday in Geneseo.

The host Maple Leafs, the top seed in the sectional, take on Rock Island Alleman in the first game at 4 p.m., while United Township and Orion/Sherrard play in the second game at 6 p.m.

Jon Gremmels can be contacted at (563) 383-2294 or at jgremmels@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qcvarsity.com.