Although they fell short of the Class A state tournament, this year's Illineks still achieved historic results. Here's a final look at Uni's winningest soccer team ever.

Jake Seeley takes control during Uni's 2-1 upset of Central on Sept. 21. The junior was a

News-Gazette all-area honorable mention. (photos on this page by Jason He) (click to enlarge)

By Jason He
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006, The OG,
sports

AFTER THE BEST year in soccer in Uni history, the Illineks' loss to Warrensburg-Latham at the IHSA sectional title game on Oct. 23 didn't keep the team from looking back at the season with satisfaction.

“This team achieved three things that no other Uni team has achieved,” head coach Bill DeJarnette said. The 2006 Illineks set a school record for wins with a mark of 17-4-1, they defeated a Champaign-Urbana Class AA school (Champaign Central), and they made it to within just one game of the eight-team Class A state tournament.

“Usually a good season is achieving one new thing,” he said. “These guys got three of them this year, and that's just phenomenal.”

The Illineks opened the season with 11 straight wins — 10 against Class A schools and one shutout against Class AA Mahomet-Seymour. At that point, it was already pretty clear that this would be one of the finest seasons ever, but the team's real test would be their next game: against Class AA Central, which Uni had never beaten since the two schools started playing in 2002.

Scoring twice in the final 10 minutes led Uni to a 2-1 win over the Maroons on Sept. 21, eliminating all doubt about this year's exceptionally skilled team.

Michael Belmont overpowers a Central defender.
The senior was a News-Gazette all-area first-team pick.
(click to enlarge)

“It was the epitome of the fact that these guys had real potential [and could also] fulfill that potential,” DeJarnette said about the game. “I mean, a lot of teams have potential, but these are guys who have actually played to ability. And they've achieved results from that.”

Many agreed with DeJarnette about the Central game.

“That was … by far the best part [of the season],” junior goalkeeper Mike Renner said.

The Illineks' 12-0 start was the best ever for a Uni soccer team, yet another first. Unfortunately, the next few matches didn't go so smoothly for the Illineks. After knocking off the Maroons, Uni went into a four-game slump in which the boys didn't win a contest.

Renner said the team felt overconfident after the Central win.

“[We thought that because] we beat Central, everything else would be a roll after that,” he said after the team suffered its first loss of the season, 2-0 at Warrensburg-Latham, the team that would end the Illineks' season a month later and advance to the state tournament in Naperville.

There wasn't much improvement seen in the game after that, either. The Illineks fell by the same score to Danville Schlarman three days later on Sept. 28.

When the Illineks lost handily to visiting Urbana 5-1 on Sept. 30, it looked like the worst was over since no AA schools remained on Uni's schedule, and the boys felt they had played a little better. However, there was one more bad outing left for the Illineks: a shocking last-minute 1-1 tie with lightly regarded Unity on the Illineks' own senior night.

In the next game, against Catlin, DeJarnette made a series of position swaps resulting in one change that would last the rest of the season: senior midfielder Jeremy Pillow and senior defender Nick Pratt switched places. Pillow had been the starting varsity sweeper since his sophomore year.

Slowly, the team began to find its form again. After a 2-0 victory over Catlin, the Illineks went on to beat East Central Illinois Conference opponent Normal Calvary Baptist 5-1 and Monticello 4-0 before beginning the postseason.

Seeded first in the Monticello Class A sectional and holding the ECIC title, the Illineks outplayed Sullivan 6-0 in the sectional quarterfinals and beat St. Thomas More 6-2 in the semifinals. That win set up one of the more memorable afternoons in Uni sports history.

On a cold and gray Monday, about 100 Uni students bundled up and left school early — with permission — to bus over to Monticello, the site of the sectional title game between Uni and Warrensburg-Latham. It should be noted that the Cardinals were actually a co-op team that combined two schools, Warrensburg-Latham (340 students) and Maroa-Forsyth (367 students), nearly doubling the pool of athletes they could draw from.

As students, faculty, and parents cheered on the Illineks in the frigid weather, Uni fell behind 2-0. But with about 29 minutes left, senior Michael Belmont suddenly broke free and showed the form that made him the area's leading goal scorer and a first-team News-Gazette all-area selection.

The attacking midfielder bore down on the Cardinal keeper and launched a perfect shot, netting his 30th goal of the year. From that point on, the Illineks dominated play. But the team couldn't capitalize on its opportunities as Warrensburg-Latham came away with a 2-1 victory.

“If a couple things were a bit different, we would've won,” DeJarnette said about the game. “We put ourselves in a position to have it happen.”

Belmont agreed that the team went into the matchup peaking at the right time.

“The last three games that we won — I think that was when we played our best soccer,” he said.

Although the season ended at least one game too soon for Belmont and his teammates, the Illineks earned recognition for their accomplishments. Besides naming Belmont to its all-area first team, The News-Gazette selected midfielder/defender Pillow, senior forward Martin Granick, and junior midfielder Jake Seeley for all-area honorable mention.

Belmont concluded his high school career ranked third in the Uni record books for most goals scored in a season, surpassed only by Al Renner (36 in 2005) and Tyson Masar (32 in 1999). His career total of 57 goals also earned him third in the record books, behind Masar (62, 1997-2000) and Renner (60, 2004-05). He is second in career assists with 31, behind only Henry Pollock (45, 2002-04).

Seeley and Granick finished second and third in the area in assists, with 13 and 12, respectively. Granick scored 17 goals, Seeley 10, and Pillow eight.

Meanwhile, goalkeepers Renner and junior Isaac Radnitzer combined on a stellar eight shutouts, including four in a row from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7, and three in four games from Oct. 5 to 16.

The East Central Illinois Conference also gave out honors for the 2006 season. Belmont, Granick, and Pillow were named to the ECIC first team. Joining Seeley as an honorable mention choice were seniors Daniel Ito and Scott Sapp. Uni won the ECIC title with a 4-0 conference record.

Over the last four seasons, the Illineks compiled a varsity record of 55-23-7.

Back in September, when the team's potential was becoming clear, DeJarnette told the Gargoyle, “This is the best season Uni's ever had so far.”

Now, with the season over, he could repeat exactly what he said — without the last two words.

2006 VARSITY RECORD: 17-4-1 overall, 4-0 ECIC
(Home games in bold)
Aug. 26: Blue Ridge (Uni Soccer Shootout), W 6-0
Aug. 26: Oakwood (Uni Soccer Shootout), W 5-2
Aug. 26: Fisher/Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (Uni Soccer Shootout), W 7-2
Aug. 29: Judah Christian,* W 2-0
Aug. 31: at Mahomet-Seymour, W 2-0
Sept. 5: Fisher/GCMS, W 3-0
Sept. 7: at Decatur Christian,* W 12-0
Sept. 9: at Sullivan, W 9-1
Sept. 12: Oakwood, W 3-2
Sept. 14: at Iroquois West, W 7-1
Sept. 19: Decatur Lutheran,* W 4-1
Sept. 21: Champaign Central, W 2-1
Sept. 25: at Warrensburg-Latham, L 2-0
Sept. 28: at Danville Schlarman, L 2-0
Sept. 30: Urbana, L 5-1
Oct. 3: Unity, T 1-1
Oct. 5: at Catlin (Salt Fork), W 2-0
Oct. 10: at Normal Calvary Baptist,* W 5-1
Oct. 12: at Monticello, W 4-0
Oct. 16: Sullivan (at U of I, Monticello sectional), W 6-0 * *
Oct. 19: St. Thomas More (at Monticello H.S., Monticello sectional), W 6-2 * *
Oct. 23: Warrensburg-Latham (at Monticello H.S., Monticello sectional), L 2-1 * *
*East Central Illinois Conference opponent
* *As the No. 1 seed, Uni was the home team in all sectional games