You never know what to expect come regional time in high school sports, but one thing you can count on is tough and physical play.

That was the case in the Class 2A Ottawa Regional semifinal as the No. 2-seeded La Salle-Peru took one step closer to the program’s first regional championship with a 3-0 victory over former conference rival and No. 10-seeded Streator on Monday in Ottawa.

“I thought we started off strong and ended strong today,” L-P senior Ismael Mejia said. “All season we struggled starting off strong, but today I thought we did, which was great to see and now we have a chance to play for the school’s first ever soccer regional championship.”

For much of the game, the Cavaliers were in control on the offensive end, but the Bulldogs did not make things easy.

Almost six minutes into the contest, L-P had its first solid look at the net as Mejia had a corner kick that Parker Abens nearly put in the net with a header, but Streator goalie Aiden Hagg was up to the challenge.

The Cavs defense dictated things throughout the match, limiting Streator to just a handful of shots in the match.

With 21:50 remaining in the first half, Abens had a good look at the net, but Hagg had an even better stop.

Just a minute later, Mejia had another good look at the net, but the shot from an angle scooted just wide of the net.

Shortly after that, the Bulldogs looked like they could strike first as Mason Decker was in front of the net, but he missed the kick and kept the game scoreless.

Streator had players cruising down the side toward the net, but Shuarlin Cucul Cal was there for the slide to push the ball away before L-P was again turned away as Abens’ header was stopped by Hagg.

But with 13:48 remaining in the half, Alex Rax blasted a shot from 20 yards out the Hagg was unable to stop, giving the Cavs a 1-0 lead.

Just 2 1/2 minutes later, Streator had its best look of the night so far as a header from Kam Darrow landed just wide of the net.

As the defenses battled, it wasn’t until 5:28 left in the half when Kacper Murawski settled the ball down and passed to Mejia, who fired past Hagg in net the to give the Cavs a 2-0 edge heading into the break.

“Aiden (Hagg) really came to play again today,” Streator coach J.T. Huey said. “He made some tough saves and I thought the only thing he really gave up was when L-P was in open space.”

The second half the defenses on both sides were strong as neither team was able to get many shots on goal.

L-P’s Adan Pantoja sailed a shot just over the crossbar six minutes into the second half as the game remained 2-0.

With just over 33 minutes left, Damian Cortes had a nice slide as Streator was looking to cut into the deficit.

“Defensively, I think we really shut them down today,” L-P coach David Spudic said. “They came hungry to play and wanted the ball.”

The scored stayed the same until 19:31 left when Mejia made a move around Streator’s Joe Hoekstra and smashed a shot right past Hagg and made it 3-0 Cavs.

L-P continued to put pressure on the Bulldogs, but Hagg made a diving save that kept the score 3-0.

Logan Grzywa pitched the shutout for Cavs, who move on to play No. 3 Kankakee in the regional final at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Kays advanced with a 7-1 win over No. 5 Ottawa in Monday’s other semifinal.

“We have been in one other regional final (a 2-1 loss to Glenbard South in 2017), but never won one,” Spudic said. “Now we have a chance to do something that hasn’t been done before so it’ll be exciting.”

For the game it was Mejia with two goals to lead the Cavs and Rax with the other goal as Logan Grzywa pitched the shutout in net.

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L-P's Zac Pescetto kicks the ball into the hands of Streator keeper Seth Zito during the Class 2A Regional semifinal game on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 at Ottawa High School. (Scott Anderson)