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Sports

Minooka Boys Kickers Open League Season with Victory

Gridders aim to bounce back vs. Providence (1-0)

Minooka High School opened Southwest Prairie Conference boys soccer action by beating Plainfield East 4-2. Matt Kelly had two goals to lead the Indians (2-1, 1-0 in the SPC).

Minooka’s defense came through in the second half, thanks in part, to the play of junior Joe Koenig and senior T.J. Lambert.

“Their presence was felt as soon as they entered the game,” Minooka coach Chris Brolley said. “And Matt Wickersham was on top of his game, again.”

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Wickersham stopped seven of eight shots in goal before allowing a penalty kick late in the contest.

Koenig came up with a goal and an assist, and Sergio Reyes found the back of the net.

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Also credited with assists were Giacomo Raimondi, Matt Blackmore and Kyle Hallerberg.

Minooka outshot Plainfield East 10-8.

Cross Country

After both advancing to the Class 3A state meet a year ago, the Minooka boys and girls cross country teams are focused on bringing home a pair of state trophies this year.

They will learn a lot about their chances at the Hinsdale Central/Hinsdale South Red Devil Invite on Saturday at Katherine Legge Park in Hinsdale.

The likes of Neuqua Valley, Palatine and New Trier, which all finished in the top 10 in the state last year, will be there.

The Indians opened the season by sweeping the Normal West Invite on Saturday in Normal.

The boys placed three runners among the top four to score 26 points at the eight-team meet. Lincoln-Way Central was second with 76 points.

Joey Santillo (15:11) took second, teammate Dan Popek (15:47) was right behind to finish third and Alex Pierce (15:59) came in fourth.

“This group has a ton of potential and they showed a glimpse of that today,” Minooka coach Kevin Gummerson said.

The girls had four runners in the top 10 to score 39 points. They were Kiley Saunders  (fourth place in 19:41), Nicole Johnson (fifth, 19:49), Devin Doran (eighth, 20:06) and Kaitlyn Chetney (ninth, 20:14).

Girls Tennis

Minooka went 1-2 at its own girls tennis quad Saturday in Minooka.

The Indians played host to Bremen, Joliet Catholic and Providence.

Their lone win was a 3-2 decision against Bremen.

Winners for Minooka included sophomore Alyssa Aspan at No. 2 singles and the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams.

Seniors Tori Anians and Melissa Wunderlich won in straight sets at No. 2, as did Emily Cranston and Danielle Musgrave at No. 3.

Football

The Indians will try to rebound from a mistake-filled, 27-21 loss Friday at Morris when it hosts Providence at 7 p.m. Friday in Minooka.

The Celtics (1-0) beat Morgan Park 21-6 as all five Catholic League Blue Division teams were victorious. Providence went 2-7 a year ago, but reached the Class 6A championship game before losing to take second in 2009.

Minooka advanced to the Class 7A state quarterfinals a year ago.

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