After Isaac Diaz gave the Mendota boys soccer team a two-goal lead late in the first half, the shots from the Trojans didn’t stop.

And neither did the saves from Genoa-Kingston goalie Adrian Leon or the clears by the Cogs’ defense.

While the Trojans didn’t score again, the Cogs couldn’t get any offense going either in Mendota’s 2-0 win Wednesday in the Class 1A Indian Creek Sectional semifinal.

“It’s a shame we only got the two goals. I feel like we should have had more,” Diaz said. “But a win’s a win.”

Leon had 11 saves in the loss for the Cogs (12-14). But that didn’t include the number of shots that went off the crossbar, uprights or just over the net. And that doesn’t count the five shots that defenders Peter Hernandez-Villalobos and Adrian Delgado cleared in front of an empty net.

The shots didn’t die down in the second half, with the teams playing to a scoreless tie in the final 40 minutes. G-K coach Thomas Moore said it was the best half of soccer his team has played this season.

“Our goal was to keep them to one or two goals,” Moore said. “We knew we wouldn’t be able to fully stop that attack. We were just hoping to get a few opportunities. The second half was the best we’ve played all year, and you look to end your season playing your best. We did that, so I’m proud of them.”

The Trojans (22-4) broke through with their first goal in the 11th minute. Mauricio Salinas ripped a cross, trying to find Cesar Casas. But the shot was just offline and went flying across the field.

The ball was played back to Salinas on the right side, and he knocked it home past Leon for a 1-0 lead.

“I don’t think the final scoreline shows how well we really played,” Mendota coach Nick Myers said. “We hit the crossbar a few times, hit the post multiple times. Lots of scoring chances. I thought we came to play tonight.”

The Mendota attack didn’t stop over the next 21 minutes when Diaz gave the Trojans a little bit of a cushion. He got the ball off a deflection and took a quick shot to push the lead to 2-0.

The Trojans had two golden chances before the half; Hernandez-Villalobos and Delgado both cleared the ball in front of an empty G-K net.

Diaz said he was surprised his goal didn’t lead to more balls finding the back of the net, a sentiment Myers said he agreed with.

“I definitely thought after we got the second one and the way we were just kind of flowing up front, I thought we’d get more than two,” Myers said. “But you don’t get style points in the postseason. You just want to win and advance.”

The Trojans advance to face Harvest-Westminster, who beat Byron 2-1, in the sectional final.

The winner moves on to the Mendota Supersectional against either Rock Island Alleman or Quincy Notre Dame.

“It’s postseason, and we keep winning and keep getting hyped up,” Myers said. “I think these guys are ready, and we’re excited to come back on Friday.”

The season ends for the Cogs, who won their first regional title since back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.

“We set our goal to win a regional, and we did that,” Moore said. “We really came together as a team the last few days. We came out here and played our best.”