NORMAL - The wind was whipping Saturday morning at the Normal West High School soccer field. Coaching was a breeze as well for University High's Bodo Fritzen, thanks to his team's execution in the Class AA regional championship match.

Fritzen said the plan was to "establish the authority" immediately against host Normal West. His Pioneers obliged, with Mitch Rogers netting an unassisted goal four minutes into the contest and Josh Rule adding a nifty left-footed goal six minutes later.

The quick 2-0 lead put U High in command and led to a 3-1 victory, earning the third-seeded Pioneers a spot in Tuesday's 6 p.m. Normal Community Sectional semifinal against sixth-seeded Charleston.

"That was the death blow," Fritzen said of the early scores. "We wanted to score quickly because we know the mentality of their players. We wanted them to play catch-up."

Rule added another goal to open the second half to help U High improve to 16-2-4. West (13-8-1) made it 3-1 with 16 minutes left on a goal by Tyler DeGroot, but could not get closer.

U High defeated West for the second time this year despite playing without senior goalkeeper Jairon Crosson and senior midfielder/forward Cameron Warner because of injuries. Senior midfielder Sean O'Malley also was limited to part-time duty because of a hip injury.

The junior Rogers sparked the fast start when he drilled a shot from in front of the goal that West goalkeeper Rylan Miyat deflected up in the air, but could not control as the ball came down. It went through his hands and trickled into the net.

"That was a bullet," Fritzen said of the shot.

The Pioneers were quickly on the attack again. Junior Zach Wall sent a pass ahead to Rule, who took it in full stride, beat a defender and found the left corner of the net.

"They had no one back there," Rule said. "It was just like a through ball right to me. I was thinking, 'Man, should I take this left-footed shot so far out?' I'm not a left-footed player, but I had one the last game so …"

The second half had just begun when U High's Phil Hamilton sent a crossing pass to a leaping Rule, who scored on a header to make it 3-0.

"I kind of got punched in the face on that one," Rule said. "I couldn't see out of my left eye for a little bit. But I'm good now."

DeGroot supplied the highlight for West when his shot deflected off of a U High player and into the net with 15:52 remaining.

The Wildcats were unable to put any added pressure on, finishing with three shots on goal to 18 for U High.

"You can ill afford to make mistakes against these guys. That's the bottom line," West coach Val Walker said. "They're a real good team. We had the one early goal where we had a mistake and the next one the goalie didn't come out."

Walker called Rule's goal to start the second half "the backbreaker," adding, "In a soccer game, it's never over when it's a two-goal deficit."

Fritzen cited the defensive play of tall junior Clint Vatterrodt as a key to keeping West from mounting a rally.

"He was the tower of the battle," Fritzen said. "The whole team played well. We pressured and did a nice job in the beginning. I was amazed in the second half … that was where we really took over. We had plenty of chances to score. I'm proud of the way the guys performed."

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Class AA regionals

RESULTS

AT NORMAL WEST

U High 3, Normal West 1 (championship)

AT MAHOMET

Normal Community 6, Danville 1 (championship)

AT MATTOON

Charleston 5, Urbana 4, PK (championship)

AT CHAMPAIGN

Champaign Centennial 1, Champaign Central 0, OT (championship)

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Class AA sectional

AT NORMAL COMMUNITY

(SEEDINGS IN PARENTHESES)

TUESDAY

Match 1 - 4 p.m. - No. 1 Normal Community vs. No. 5 Champaign Centennial

Match 2 - 6 p.m. - No. 3 University High vs. No. 6 Charleston

THURSDAY

Match 3 - 6 p.m. - Winners Matches 1 and 2 (championship)

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On the Net:

To view a slideshow with audio about the game, go to: http://www.pantagraph.com/art/gallery/

2006/102106_soccerregional/