Morton 6, Pekin 0

MORTON - Pekin was a decided underdog in the Class AA Morton Regional girls soccer championship game Friday night against the host Lady Potters.

So perennial power Morton's 6-0 victory at McClellan Park didn't come as a shock to anyone. What was a surprise was how well Pekin played in the game's first 15 minutes.

Less than 48 hours after playing 120 minutes of soccer and winning a five-round penalty kick shootout against Limestone in the regional semifinals, the Lady Dragons had to step on the field against Morton, which hardly broke a sweat in an 8-0 semifinal shellacking of East Peoria.

Despite several good scoring chances, it took 15 minutes for the Lady Potters to register their first goal against Pekin on a header by Meagan Reitz.

“Our girls are exhausted mentally and physically. (The Limestone game) took a lot out of them,” said Pekin coach Edgar Sandoval. “Keeping Morton off the scoreboard for 15 minutes was phenomenal. You could feel the frustration on their bench.”

Morton led only 2-0 at halftime. The Lady Potters scored their last three goals in the final 20 minutes, when Pekin (11-7-3) had no gas left in the tank at all.

No. 2 seed Morton (18-4-1) advances to the Peoria Notre Dame Sectional, where it'll face Geneseo Regional champion Geneseo at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Despite Friday's loss, Pekin ended the season on an upbeat note.

“Five years from now, our girls won't even remember the Morton regional game,” Sandoval said. “They'll remember the Limestone regional game Š the highs, the lows, the elation.”

No. 4 seed Pekin led No. 6 seed Limestone 2-0 early in the second half, then saw the Lady Rockets tie the score 2-2 on a goal with 1:25 remaining.

Four 10-minute sudden-death overtime periods didn't produce a winner, so the teams went to a shootout.

Nearly three hours after the opening kickoff, Pekin won the shootout 2-1. It's the longest high school game played at Rotary Field in McClellan Park, and the longest game in Pekin's 12-year history.

The victory over Limestone gave Pekin 11 wins, tying the team record for victories in a season set by the 2005 squad, which finished 11-7-1.

The Lady Dragons set another team record earlier this year when they won six straight games, recording shutouts in the final five games of the stretch.

Pekin has had just two winning seasons in its history - 2005 and this year.

Morton beat Pekin three times this season by a combined 14-0.

The first two victories came in Mid-Illini Conference play. The Lady Potters have won six consecutive Mid-Illini championships, are 73-1-3 in conference games since 2000, and have won six straight regional titles.

Despite the disparity in the success of the two programs, Morton coach Brian Deters has a lot of respect for Sandoval and the Lady Dragons.

“Edgar does a good job with his team,” Deters said. “He played a lot of people back (Friday), which was the correct tactical move. I thought we played well. We passed well, moved into space well, and our defense was crisp.”

Morton forced busy Pekin goalie Lindsay Coffey to make 24 saves. Lady Potters goalie Brooke Bisping didn't have a save.

Rachael Payne and Reitz each scored twice for Morton. Maci Hatch and Amy Unzicker had the other goals. Holly Bennett and Unzicker each had two assists.