ELGIN – Richmond-Barton senior midfielder Jordan Otto doesn’t take his team’s accomplishments for granted.
Last week, the Rockets defeated Johnsburg in the Kishwaukee River Conference Tournament title game, capping off their fourth straight perfect season in the conference.
On Wednesday, the top-seeded Rockets took a big step toward their ultimate goal of hoisting the state championship trophy by defeating No. 4 St. Edward 7-0 in the Class 1A Westminster Christian regional final. , the program won its fifth consecutive regional title.
Otto, along with seven other RB seniors, has been instrumental in all of these wins.
“That's something most teams can't do. It's insane to be a part of that,” said Otto, one of the team captains. “It's been an amazing four years and I owe everything to this program. The ride has been indescribable.”
The Rockets (15-2-1) hope this can continue for much longer.
Richmond-Barton will next face No. 3 North Shore Country Day in the Marian Central District semifinals Saturday at 1 p.m. The Rockets have won the section title in each of the past three seasons. In 2022, they placed second in the state.
During Wednesday's win, the Rockets had possession of the ball in St. Edward's End for much of the first half, but were held scoreless on numerous early scoring chances.
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Sophomore Nicole Mendrick broke the scoreless tie with 28:46 left in the first half, but the Rockets midfielder admitted she wasn't trying to score on the play. Mendrick tried to pass the ball to a teammate, but her shot from just outside the penalty area went over St. Edward's goalkeeper Brianna Epong.
“I was actually going for a cross, but he swerved and it worked,” said Mendrick, who added his second goal late in the first half. “I was trying to hit it to the back post for someone else to hit, and the ball was a little high, but it worked out perfectly.”
Otto said Mendrick's goal helped calm down the Rockets, who missed some early chances.
“That was huge,” Otto said. “We had some shots that went straight to the goalie and stuff, so being able to get that one and finally really moving forward. … I think we played together as a team, And even though things got a little physical, we still played together and got through it.”
After Mendrik scored the first goal, the RB didn't have to wait long for the second. Freshman forward Maddie Saylor found the back of the net 38 seconds later, receiving an assist from senior midfielder Bri Maldonado. Mendrick then scored his third goal and Layne Frerichs added another point to make it 4-0 with 12:38 left in the first half.
Saylor scored on a corner kick by Maldonado with 22:23 left in the second half. Senior Rachel Mendrick scored two goals with 8:04 left in regulation, including the running back's seventh and final goal with about 30 seconds left.
St. Edward's coach Tim Briger knew the Rockets would be in for a tough challenge.
“They're a great team,” Briger said. “We knew we had the odds stacked against us. They have great athletes, are well-coached and very disciplined. We told the girls, 'Take a chance. The only way to get hold of them is to slow them down, stall them, and frustrate them.'' Make them take shots they don't want to take, make them do things they don't want to do. ”
Coach Briger praised the play of sophomore Epong, who made 22 saves for the Green Wave (10 wins, 12 losses). Most of them happened right after the game started.
“I thought [Epoungue] I was absolutely on my head today. She had a great game,” Briger said. “I think you could tell there was a certain amount of frustration.” [R-B’s] side. “
Despite the big win, Rockets coach Casey DeCalwe didn't feel Wednesday was his team's best performance.
“I'm going to get back on the practice field and practice hard tomorrow,” he said. “They may not like it one day, but if they want to achieve their ultimate goal, they have to have higher expectations for themselves.”
