Junior forward Matthew Vandeman knows opposing teams anticipate him scoring for Aurora Central Catholic, but that doesn’t slow him down at all.
Conversely, he welcomes the challenge.
“I’m aggressive in attacking the goal,” Vandeman said. “I’d rather take a kid on one-on-one.
“I’m not afraid of that.”
With his team trailing in the second half, Vandeman showed no fear Wednesday afternoon against the host Cogs in the Class 1A Genoa-Kingston Regional championship game.
Vandeman responded with a pair of goals to spark ACC to a 2-1 victory, giving the Chargers their first regional title since 2017.
Five minutes after Genoa-Kingston (8-10-4) took a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick from Adrian Delgado, Vandeman forced a 1-1 tie on the rebound of a shot by Christopher Incandela.
Then with 17:27 left in the second half, Vandeman put in another rebound to score the winner for ACC (16-3-2), this one coming off a shot by Diego Leon.
“We just needed a ball to hit the back of the net, either ours or theirs, to give us a wake-up call and get us going,” Vandeman said. “As soon as we saw that PK go in, we turned the lights on and never turned back.”
Aurora Central Catholic’s Matthew Vandeman (1) steals the ball away from Genoa-Kingston’s Brandon Wolcott (18) in the Class 1A Genoa-Kingston Regional final on Wednesday, Oct, 23, 2024. (H. Rick Bamman / The Beacon-News)
The two goals pushed Vandeman’s season total to 29, which establishes a new single-season program record. He also recently set the career scoring record at ACC, despite only being a junior.
That’s why ACC coach Nazareth Jean-Marie wasn’t surprised Vandeman came to the rescue again Wednesday.
“He’s a complete player,” Jean-Marie said. “Whenever you need him to be somewhere, he’s always there. Overall, he’s a role model and represents what ACC is all about.”
The two goals took junior goalkeeper Elias Perez off the hook. The first-year goalie faced his second career penalty kick Wednesday.
“It was their only shot of the game, and honestly, it was stressful,” Perez said. “We had not scored on any of the shots that we took. It was in my head. This whole thing is on me.
“I tried my hardest. It was just a good shot. But I was disappointed because we should have been up by a lot more.”
Aurora Central Catholic’s Owen Nordenberg (16) and Genoa-Kingston’s Fernando Flores (11) chase down a loose ball in the Class 1A Genoa-Kingston Regional final on Wednesday, Oct, 23, 2024. (H. Rick Bamman / The Beacon-News)
Perez noticed his teammates playing with more energy after the penalty kick went in.
In fact, Vandeman may have even called it at halftime. ACC had seven shots on goal in the first half and were dominating the run of play, but the Chargers didn’t have a goal to show for it.
“He’s amazing,” Perez said of Vandeman. “He’s there when you need him. He told me before the second half that he’s a second-half player.”
Vandeman has helped Perez get into the groove as a goalkeeper by peppering him with shots in practice.
“It helps a ton,” Perez said. “At the start of the season, I was not used to it and I got better pretty quickly. It helped a ton having somebody like that shoot against you.”
Vandeman had visions of losing in the regional final the first two seasons of his career.
“As soon as I saw that goal go in, I knew we had to get a goal,” Vandeman said. “I was not going to lose for the third year in a row.”
Aurora Central Catholic’s Nathan Diedrich (5) and Matthew Vandeman (1) celebrate with teammates after winning the Class 1A Genoa-Kingston Regional final on Wednesday, Oct, 23, 2024. (H. Rick Bamman / The Beacon-News)
Now, the goal switches to trying to win the first sectional title in program history.
The Chargers play at 5 p.m. Friday in the Hinckley-Big Rock Sectional semifinals against Winnebago (10-8-2), a 3-1 winner over Marengo. The host Royals (15-7-2) and Richmond-Burton (19-3-1) play in the other semifinal.
“We’re new now to this,” Vandeman said. “The sectional will be tough. There will be better competition. Usually, the teams in sectionals have experience.
“We’ll have to adjust, and hopefully win a sectional title this year.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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