Peoria Notre Dame boys soccer earns return trip to IHSA state finals
ROMEOVILLE — Peoria Notre Dame boys soccer is headed back to state.
The Irish defeated Chicago Brother Rice 1-0 on a cold and snowy Tuesday night in the Class 2A Romeoville Supersectional at Lewis University. This is PND's 17th trip to the state finals and will collect the program's 15th state trophy.
"The conditions were brutal today," PND coach Mike Bare said. "We had a snow-covered field to play on. We knew it wasn't going to be pretty soccer. We just had to do our best to get the ball forward and keep it down on our attacking half of the field and take our chance when we got it and we did."
Notre Dame soccer: Meet the unsung star of the Irish as they chase another state championship
Notre Dame is the defending Class 2A state champion with five titles overall in its history. The Irish (21-1-3) advance to the state semifinals, scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday at Hoffman Estates and face the winner of Burbank St. Laurence and Chicago DePaul College Prep.
Kayden Hudson's goal in the 53rd minute was all PND needed. His 40th tally of the season came on a rebound, finishing a chance for the Irish.
"From from that point forward in the second half, we knew that one goal would probably stand up if we defended as a team," Bare said, "and we did that the rest of the game. We were able to hold them out."
Irish senior goalkeeper Teddy Dimler was the architect to PND's 16th shutout of the season. Last season, the Irish managed 13 clean sheets during their title run.
The scores: 2023 IHSA boys soccer postseason pairings, schedules, scores for Peoria area
"When you get that one-goal lead," Bare said, "it takes everybody to defend, from front to back, including your goalkeeper. I thought tonight I was just really proud of the effort that we got from the entire team defensively, to get a shutout.
"We're the type of team if we can get a shutout, we got a pretty good chance to win with the offense that we have."
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Notre Dame defeats Chicago Brother Rice in Class 2A boys soccer supersectional
