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Lions look forward to rematch with Notre Dame in 2A championship
By Curt Herron After anticipating a state championship matchup with Peoria Notre Dame all season long, Saint Viator had one last obstacle to deal with on Friday. And that was the potential threat that was posed by an unheralded Triad squad in a Class 2A semifinal match at North Central College in Naperville. While it might have been easy to take the Knights lightly, Saint Viator has also learned that rankings and records don't mean much in the postseason. Triad (14-10-2), which overcame a 1-6-1 start to qualify for the state finals for the first time, hung tough for awhile against the favored Lions (23-4-1). But Mike Taylor's squad collected three goals late in the first half and added another early in the final 40 minutes to help them roll to an 5-0 victory. Kevin Cavers and Brendan King each had a pair of goals while Billy Hamilton added two assists for the Lions, who are at state for the first time since 2004. It marks Saint Viator's third trip to a state title match, putting this year's group along with the 2003 championship squad and the 2000 runnerup team. Earlier in the day, Notre Dame (23-2-1) advanced after capturing an easy 6-0 win over Freeport, which had eliminated Marmion in Tuesday's super-sectional. Coach Mike Bare's Irish are the defending Class 2A champions and have won their last 17 matches and are unbeaten and untied against Illinois squads. One win in that current run came on October 3 when Notre Dame rallied from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 win over Saint Viator in the Mid-State Tournament. Notre Dame and saint Viator have an interesting history in state finals play, with the squads meeting four times in semifinal matches from 2000 to 2004. The Lions won the showdowns in 2000 and 2003 to advance to the championship match while the Irish prevailed in the 2001 and 2004 semifinal clashes. But in order to set up the drama for today's 1:00 p.m. state championship, the Lions needed to take care of business against Triad first. Saint Viator finished with 28 total shots with half of those being on goal while the Knights had just four shots, including two on goal. Still, the Lions had a difficult time connecting in the early going and were still in a scoreless deadlock as time in the initial half wound down. All-Stater Trevor Wheeler finally connected at the 26:24 mark to give Saint Viator the only score that it would ultimately need in the match. Hear Saint Viator's Trevor Wheeler interview The Wheeler goal seemed to light a fire under Saint Viator, which added two more scores in the final minutes of the opening half. At the 36:16 mark, King made it 2-0 when he scored on a header from close range following a corner kick from Hamilton. And then Cavers got into the scoring act at 37:31 when he curved in a shot attempt that just dipped inside of the post. Hear Saint Viator's Billy Hamilton interview If there was any drama left, it ended at 44:25 when Cavers connected on a short shot following a free kick from Hamilton. Then at the 60:17 mark, King closed out the scoring to give the Lions a 33-3 advantage in goals during six postseason matches. Cavers, Hamilton and Wheeler, who have played together for the last 10 years, all collected five total shots during the match. Now Saint Viator can finally set its sights on what has been its goal throughout the year, to play for a state championship. But to achieve that accomplishment, the Lions will have to stop an Irish program that captured its first state title in 2004. Hear Saint Viator's Bill Krawzak interview
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Saint Viator's path to the championship match
Postseason play
Lions state final appearances under Mike Taylor
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