North Mac girls’ soccer heads into postseason on six-game winning streak

Gillespie loses quarterfinal against Litchfield

By JACKSON WILSON
Enquirer Democrat Reporter

The North Mac High School girls’ soccer team is full steam ahead as the postseason arrives.
The Panthers closed out an impressive final stretch with a 7-0 victory over Meridian, their sixth win in a row.

Sophia McWard and Taylor Hipsher each pulled off a hat trick, with Abigail Marshall getting into the scoring act as well.

Melanie Gist stopped three shots over 60 minutes prior to getting replaced by Hipsher in the net.

North Mac, 9-10-1 overall and a regional host within the Illinois High School Association Class 1A Quincy Notre Dame sub-sectional, battled Sangamo rival Pleasant Plains as a sixth seed on the athletic turf May 11. The winner will face either No. 2 Sacred Heart-Griffin or No. 10 Springfield Lutheran in the regional championship Fri., May 13 at 4:30 p.m.

Gillespie loses regional quarterfinal against Litchfield

Gillespie’s season is over following an 8-2 road loss to Litchfield in the first round of the Carlinville regional May 6.

The Miners, which had recently defeated the Panthers for a conference win Apr. 26, were hit with a 5-1 ambush in the first half and tapped out at 3-13.

The quote-on-quote upset over No. 8 Gillespie put No. 9 Litchfield up against No. 2 Southwestern May 10 at CHS. The Piasa Birds came in fresh off of a first round bye with a 13-6 record and a share of the South Central Conference title with the No. 3 Hillsboro Hiltoppers, who battled Carlinville (8-9-1) in the other semifinal later that evening.

The May 10 winners clash for the regional title and a berth in the Quincy Notre Dame sectional Fri., May 13 at 4:30 p.m.

Staunton assigned to Greenville regional

Staunton, 8-9-2, entered the field as a No. 6 seed in the Quincy Notre Dame bracket.

The Bulldogs were assigned to the Greenville regional for a date with the host Comets. Top seed Alton Marquette and No. 7 Pana headlined the other matchup. The semifinals were played May 10 and the victors are set to fight for the crown at 4 p.m. Fri., May 13 in Bond County.

Stay tuned…

Complete regional coverage will be featured in next week’s issue.

IHSA Class 1A sectionals begin Tues., May 17.