FISHER – The Fisher/Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley soccer team waited for a long time for this moment.
For head coach Robbie Dinkins, the anticipation kept him awake from midnight on Tuesday to at least the end of that evening’s IHSA Class 1A match against Urbana University Laboratory High School.
“I was thinking about the game 24/7,” Dinkins said.
For the Fisher/GCMS program, the 1-0 win over Uni High on Tuesday ended a 23-year wait for a regional championship.
“To finally get that monkey off our back feels like the world is lifted off me,” Dinkins said. “It’s been a long time.”
For the senior players who played all soccer throughout their time in high school, the third time was the charm after losing their first two regional championship match appearances.
“It feels great to get it on our last chance,” Fisher/GCMS senior goalkeeper Parker Baillie said.
It was also their second time facing Uni High in a regional championship match after losing to the Illineks in the 2021 Fisher Regional title game.
“We’ve been working at this for four years,” Fisher/GCMS senior midfielder/defender Spencer Kleist said. “There’s no better feeling than getting this regional championship.”
The Bunnies lost last year’s 1A regional title game to eventual state runner-up Normal University High School, ending a season in which they set a school record for single-season wins with 21.
“In my personal opinion, we are in one of the toughest areas in the state when it comes to soccer because you’re either going to get pull toward Bloomington or Champaign, and there are a lot of good private schools whose main sport is soccer,” Dinkins said.
After last year’s regional championship loss, Dinkins said his team had a new sense of dedication going into this season.
“We made it a priority that it didn’t matter who we played – public or private – we have to be just as good, if not better, and that’s what the guys did in the offseason,” Dinkins said. “They worked their butts off, and they reaped the reward. We’ve really tried to develop our athletes. We have nine club players that worked really hard since last year.”
Landing the first (and only) punch
A free kick by senior midfielder/striker David Hull led to the only goal of the match as Kleist rebounded a save by Uni High goalkeeper Muhammad Iftikhar and put the ball into the net on the putback.
The goal gave Fisher/GCMS a 1-0 lead with 34:45 left in the first half.
“That was a set play we put in this week,” Dinkins said. “Earlier in the first half, he looked at me, and I asked why he didn’t go up (to the net). He thought he needed to sit back (on defense), and I said, ‘No, you’re a threat. You’re one of our biggest threats when it comes to winning the ball in the air. Go up there and do your thing.’ I’m so glad we did because we got that goal.”
Kleist scored two goals three days prior in the Bunnies’ regional semifinal win over Unity, both off corner kicks by Hull.
“Corners are what I do, and it kind of felt like a corner,” Kleist said. “I went up there. It was just the greatest feeling to score that thing and put us up.”
With 22:44 left in the first half, Iftikhar saved a penalty kick attempt by Zack Zbinden. It was one of 11 of Iftikhar’s keeper saves for the match.
“That keeper did a heck of a job today,” Dinkins said.
The Bunnies took 14 shots on goal by the match’s end.
“Our offense helped a lot,” Baillie said. “They kept pushing up and worked their combos and played their game and let the defense take care of the stuff on the other side.”
Fiery defense
Uni High took 10 shots on goal, all of which were saved by Baillie.
“Over the last 1 ½ years, he has really thrived in those moments,” Dinkins said.
It was the 18th shutout of the season for Fisher/GCMS, adding another notch to its single-season school record.
“It feels really good to get 18 shutouts. We have an amazing defense, starting from Parker Baillie all the way to Spencer Kleist and Gaines Parsons,” Fisher/GCMS senior defender Logan Heath said. “They’re amazing voices back there and amazing people.”
The Bunnies’ defense is stacked with seniors, including Kleist, Heath and Gaines Parsons
“They played a lot of soccer and have been in those moments,” Dinkins said. “The defense showed up. They just kept grinding, and that’s what they do. My hat’s off to those guys. They’ve earned it. They may not get all the glory, but on days like this, defense wins championships.”
Calvin Rachiell, another senior defender, has offered some meaningful service coming off the bench.
“He did a heck of a job,” Dinkins said.
The contributions of the bench players have not gone unnoticed by the starters.
“We’ve got 17-18 guys who go on that field and play quality minutes.,” Kleist said. “It just helps that we don’t have to go 80 minutes the whole game. They played great. We played great.”
As a team, Fisher/GCMS has a chant for pregame and postgame huddles: “We play together. We fight together. We win together.”
“We’re just one big family,” Heath said. “It’s a win we can all share.”
Heath’s contributions to the team went beyond the soccer field this year as he dyed his mohawk orange, one of Fisher High School’s colors.
“It kind of supports the team,” Heath said. “It gets them amped up. It gets them fired up. It’s something I did for the team. It’s a nice little signature haircut I got.”
Heath has been given a nickname: Firehawk.
“It’s just something the student section started calling me, and the coaches kind of picked it up,” Heath said.
Thank you notes
The Bunnies hosted their regional at Kellar Field.
This was the first year they played at Fisher High School’s football facility after previously playing at the Fisher Fairgrounds.
“Them allowing us to play here all year long on this beautiful facility couldn’t be any better,” Dinkins said.
Dinkins said he was also thankful for his assistant coaches Graham Voelker and Brodie Doman.
“I couldn’t be more blessed with the assistant coaches we have,” Dinkins said. “Those guys do a fantastic job coaching, and we wouldn’t have been in this position without them.”
Up next
Second-seeded Fisher/GCMS (19-3-1) will face top-seeded Oakwood/Salt Fork in the Monticello Sectional semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The Bunnies defeated a shorthanded Oakwood 2-0 on Oct. 8.
“We know they’re going to be very talented,” Dinkins said. “They’re senior-dominated like we are. We’ve always had great matchups against them. We’re going to be looking for a tough one.”
Fisher/GCMS 1, Uni High 0
UNI 0 0 — 0
FGCMS 1 0 — 1
Scoring summary
FGCMS – Spencer Kleist (David Hull assist).
Team stats
Shot on goal – Fisher/GCMS 14, Uni High 10.
Keeper saves – Uni High 11 (Muhammad Iftikhar 11), Fisher/GCMS 10 (Parker Baillie 10).