BLOOMINGTON - As the final seconds of Monday's Class A sectional championship match ticked away, Central Catholic High School midfielder Thomas Prior glanced at the clock.

When it finally hit zero, the sophomore midfielder came to the realization a season with so much promise had one more chapter to be written.

"I knew we achieved our goal," Prior said. "It's so great."

A season marked by triumphs for the Central Catholic soccer team is nearing a storybook completion as a program that has been in existence since 2003 is only three wins away from capturing a state championship.

As the Saints' prepare for Friday's 11 a.m. state quarterfinal against Chicago Parker, the team still craves more.

"We are confident," sweeper Stephen Brandt said. "Our goal for this season was to get to state. We all knew we could do it. It was a matter of actually getting it done. Actually accomplishing that goal is going to give us a big boost going into state."

Solid defensive play has enabled Central Catholic to advance to North Central College's Benedetti-Wherli Stadium at Naperville.

In three postseason games, the Saints (15-3-2) have outscored their opponents 6-1 and went the first 227 minutes without allowing a goal.

"It seems like these last couple weeks we've realized how important this means to us," goalkeeper Ben Kelch said. "It just seems like we're playing at another level."

Since a 7-0 setback to University High in the Intercity Tournament, the Saints have allowed 10 goals in their final 14 games. During that span, Central Catholic had five shutouts and allowed multiple goals in one game.

"Every single person has stepped up," Brandt said. "Everyone is doing their part."

That, along with constant pressure on defense, has led to success.

"We look to challenge anyone," Prior said. "We're not the biggest defense and we're not the biggest team, but we'll step up to the challenge, and we'll go at anyone and try to compete."

During the last three weeks, Central Catholic has met every challenge.

"We seem to be increasing as a defensive unit every single game we play. It's unreal almost," Brandt said. (Monday's 4-1 win over Macomb) was the product of it all coming together. I think if we keep how we're playing, we'll definitely have a chance. We just need to keep marking on guys and not letting them dribble by us."

The key is communication, something Saints' coach Patric Molinari says his team still needs to improve.

"If you don't talk, if you don't let somebody know what's going on behind your back, how are you going to cover? That means you always have a chance to get beat," Molinari said.

"The communication got better. But there's still a long way to go."

While the communication is a work in progress, the defensive unit believes Kelch's voice is essential to their success.

"He always lets us know how many people are on what side of the field or where we should be shifting to," Brandt said. "He talks a lot back there and it really helps out a lot."

According to Kelch, it's the defense that allows his job to remain simple.

"They step it front of every shot," he said. "There's nothing they take for granted. They make sure if it's going to come to me, it's going to be deflected or slowed down. They mark their men extremely well and they don't let anyone get behind them."

That is what has fueled the postseason run.

"I don't think we'd actually be a lot of places without our defense," Prior said.

"(It's) just a bunch of different guys coming together and really stepping up for our team and when we put one or two goals in the net, I don't think we can lose because our defense is so good."

That has the Saints confident and hungry.

"We're already so happy that we're making it to state," Brandt said. "We all know that winning state is 10 times that. All of us kind of want a big picture on the wall at school. That'd be nice."

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State matchup

Central Catholic vs. Chicago Parker

What: Class A state quarterfinal

Time: 11 a.m. Friday

Place: Benedetti-Wherli Stadium, Naperville

Records: Central Catholic

15-3-2; Parker 17-5-2

FYI: Both teams are making their first appearances in the state tournament. The Saints defeated Macomb 4-1 to advance to the Elite Eight, while Parker beat Chicago Morgan Park, 4-1. Harrison Freund leads Parker with 16 goals. Patrick Kniery's 15 goals top Central Catholic, but according to Patric Molinari, Kniery is "no go" for Friday's game. Freshman Hayden Hoerdemann has 14. The teams' offensive and defensive numbers are eerily similar. Both have allowed 27 goals, but Central Catholic (63) has scored four more than the Colonels. The winner plays either Earlville (23-0) or Winnebago (21-2-3) in Saturday's 9 a.m. quarterfinal.