The Sentinel

Acosta hits hat trick in regional semifinal soccer match, SJO wins 9-0

St. Joseph-Ogden's Alex Acosta is congratulated by teammate Waylon Jones after scoring a goal against Unity on September 19. Acosta scored three goals on Saturday during the Spartans' regional semifinal soccer match against Clifton Central.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

ST. ANNE - They were literally unstoppable in putting the ball between the posts. The St. Joseph-Ogden soccer team rolled over Clifton Central in their IHSA regional semifinal match on Saturday, 9-0.

Junior Alex Acosta finished the postseason contest with a spectacular three goals. Spencer Wilson, a senior, connected twice, and the Spartans got two scores from junior Logan Mills. Freshman Tyler Hess rounded out the SJO scoring effort with two goals in the shutout.

Acosta and fellow junior Will Besson were each credited with one assist each.Wilson and sophomore Zach Harper setup two scores apiece with solid passes.

Thanks to a incredible defensive effort in the backfield, keeper Jaxson Colvin notched three save to hold Comets scoreless for 80 minutes.

The Spartans improved to 16-7 with the win, and advanced to tonight's St. Anne regional championship game against another Comet team, this one from nearby Oakwood. An anticipated rematch, SJO hopes to avenge their earlier 5-1 loss three weeks ago in September to the OHS squad.

Rockets fall to the Illineks regional semifinal

Nolan Remole, a junior, kicks the ball downfield during Unity's Illini Prairie Conference road game at St. Joseph-Ogden. The Rockets' soccer season came to an end after falling 7-0 to #2 seed Urbana U-High in the Monticello regional on Friday. The Rockets, who won their IHSA first-round playoff game 2-1 over Judah Christian, finished the season with eight wins against nine losses and one tie. The path to a regional title was difficult for this year's team, with six of the ten schools in their subsectional listed as private schools or academies.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Photo Gallery | Unity vs SJO

Rockets' Tre Hoggard returns the ball after an SJO field goal attempt in the first quarter. Hoggard, a sophomore, carried the ball 11 ...

Tarr leads Unity in acing Urbana, 2-0

Reagan Little and Piper Steele combined efforts to produce seven kills in Unity's home volleyball match against Urbana on Monday. The Rockets won the contest in straight sets...

Tarr leads Unity in acing Urbana, 2-0

TOLONO - Reagan Little and Piper Steele combined efforts to produce seven kills in Unity's home volleyball match against Urbana on Monday. The Rockets won the contest in straight sets 25-21, 25-21.

Unity's McKayla Schendel passes the ball to the front line during the Rockets' home match against Central High School in August. UHS moved to a 15-16-1 record after their non-conference match against the Urbana Tigers.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Steele delivered three kills and three digs. Little, who led the team at the net and in the backcourt was credited with four kills and 10 digs.

Junior Lauren Shaw pounded two aces against the visiting Tigers and distributed eight passes. Meanwhile, senior Ruby Tarr slammed three aces and had six assists. Shaw chalked up six digs and Tarr added another six in the non-conference victory.

The Rockets improved to 15-16-1 and host Rantoul (13-19) tonight in their final regular season home match before facing Olympia on the road on Thursday.

The team will be back in action at the Rocket Center next Monday at 6pm in their postseason debut against #7 seed Warrensburg-Latham (22-10).