Washington 6, Pekin 1

MORTON - For a minute it looked like an upset in the making.

Actually it was 1:11. That's how long it took Washington to respond to Pekin's early goal in a Class AA Morton Regional semifinal girls soccer match Wednesday at McCallan Park.

No. 7 seed Washington went on to a 6-1 victory and a berth in Friday's 7 p.m. championship game against No. 3 seed Morton.

"I think we caught them by surprise," Pekin coach Edgar Sandoval said about freshman Emily LaBanca's goal less than six minutes into the semifinal game.

Washington goalie Ashley Jacobson couldn't handle a crossing pass, and LaBanca was there to boot the ball into an open net. It was Pekin's first goal against Washington in three games this season. The Lady Panthers beat the Lady Dragons 6-0 April 10 and 1-0 May 1 in Mid-Illini conference contests.

Freshman Kathleen O'Brien answered LaBanca's goal, then Washington (11-6-1) went ahead for good 2-1 with 16:07 left when Tabea Tietz scored off a corner kick by Michelle Rhoades. It was the first of four goals scored off corners by the Lady Panthers.

"Corners have been our Achilles' heel all season," Sandoval said. "When Metamora beat us 3-0, all three of their goals came off corners."

The first of Carrie Bunting's two goals gave Washington a 3-1 halftime lead. Moriah Peterson and Rhaodes also tallied in the second half for the Lady Panthers.

Goalie Lindsay Coffey played a solid game for 15th-seeded Pekin (6-11-2) making nine saves.

"Washington might have taken us lightly in our last game (May 1) because they were better prepared this time," Sandoval said. "Their spacing on offense was much better."

Sandoval was happy about his young team's progress this season. Pekin played a tougher schedule because of its move to the Mid-Illini from the Mid State 6 Conference and it gave up a program record low 46 goals.