Washington soccer threatens late, but falls in bid to return to 2A state title game
ROCKFORD — Washington left everything it had on the field in Friday’s Class 2A state semifinal, but it wasn’t enough.
It appeared the chances of the Panthers forcing overtime were slim to none in the last six minutes of the game. Trailing Crystal Lake South 2-0 with less than six minutes to go, they got a redemptive goal from the unlikeliest of candidates but couldn’t find an equalizer despite a furious finish in a 2-1 defeat.
"We were just close to getting that second goal,” Washington head coach Chad Clift said. “And if we would have had a second one, I honestly I think we would have beat them, whether it's a shootout or overtime.”
Washington had more shots, shots on goal and corner kicks than the Gators in a game that was a defensive battle for the first 52 minutes.
But all it took for Crystal Lake South was one chance as a free kick deflected to Zach Vellicelli, who buried a goal in the left side of the net for a 1-0 lead with 27:05 left to go in the second half.
“We had a couple silly fouls I thought, and the first goal came off a silly foul,” Clift said. “The kid hit a heck of a shot but you know those are all preventable things. I said the little things are going to win close games, and today the little things didn't go our way.”
The soccer gods gave the Gators another goal just under 10 minutes later when Ethan Nawracaj drove up the right flank and crossed the ball in. Washington goalkeeper Oliver Wettstein jumped up to intercept it, but the ball glanced off his fingertips, off the left sidebar and into the back of the net.
“It was just unlucky on the second one that he did give up but he didn't hang his head too much,” Clift said. “He just got right back in there and tried to make a difference again. And he's been great for us all year. Like I said, we win as a team, we lose as a team and no one kid cost us the game. Collectively as a group, we just didn't score as many goals as them today.”
Washington pushed all its chips forward the rest of the way by dicing up the CLS defense and setting up its fortés of throw-ins and corner kicks. And they had a secret weapon.
On multiple such instances, the Panthers brought the 6-foot-3 Wettstein up and he nearly scored on a header with 11:20 remaining. Six minutes later, he got his redemption as a long throw-in deflected off Crystal Lake South’s goalkeeper, found Wettstein’s left foot and he sent it into the back of the net to give Washington life.
The goal was Wettstein’s second of the season in regulation; he also scored twice in penalty kick shootouts in Washington’s regional and sectional championship victories.
“He was devastated on the second goal, I felt bad for him,” Clift said. “He wanted to make up for it by going up to have a chance to score, and he got up there…he just wanted to redeem himself.”
The Panthers kept the pressure up and had a corner kick with just under four minutes left but it was cleared away. With 2:42 remaining, Will Jaegle got a free kick opportunity just inside of the corner but that and two other final pushes were eventually cleared as well.
“We had just a couple throw-ins bounce in the box and no one was there, they were like a half step away and that would have been important early too if we could have got one early on them,” Clift said. “On the back end of the game, we were pretty good with pressure, and we just couldn't find one more.”
The loss was just Washington’s second of the season as the Panthers dropped to 22-2-2. The Panthers though have an opportunity to end their season on a high note as they take on Glenbard South in the third-place game on Saturday morning.
“Regardless, we're still planning to win and they all want to win the third-place game too,” CLift said. “There's not too much you can say though after that game. They just gave it their all, and I'm proud of them.”
Washington owned a 9-7 advantage in shots, a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal and a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.
But what the stat sheet doesn’t show is the impact the Panthers’ senior group, including Jaegle, Truman Lenover, Sage Davis, Finn McGreevy, Sutton Ege, Peyton Renshaw, Owen Moehle, Isaak Roley, Jake Campen, Carter Dennis and Jace Robbins had on the program.
Seeing those players step up and replace a talented group that finished as the Class 2A runner-up in 2025 gives Clift and the Panthers plenty of reason to believe that they can do it again and remain a titan of Central Illinois high school soccer.
“This year's seniors have been enormous,” Clift said. “They had truly a lot of pressure on them to back up what last year's group did, and this senior class has surpassed my expectations, to be honest.
“They’ve solidified that we do have a good soccer program in Washington and we are one of the lead programs in the area.”
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