Peoria City’s ‘truly special’ season rolls to conference championship

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — The Peoria City soccer team is in just its third season in the USL2 but it is already playing for a conference championship.

The Carp will play Flint City on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a playoff game they’ll host at Shea Stadium.

“Home field advantage, I’ve never had such a truth be told to me. Our community here in Peoria is absolutely unbelievable and I really do think that as a team we appreciate everything that those people do to come support us,” said defender Charlie Dickerson.

The Carp beat Thunder Bay 2-0 to capture the franchise’s first ever playoff win last Friday. Then won a thriller in penalty kicks over Des Moines on Sunday in the Central Conference semifinals.

That game saw Peoria City jump out to a 3-1 lead, lose that lead and have to rally in extra time. The Carp scored twice to tie the game 5-5 and force the penalty kick tiebreaker.

Last weekend’s games were played in Peoria and the league awarded the Carp home games again on this weekend’s postseason schedule. Dickerson, who is a senior at Bradley, sees that as an advantage.

“I feel like anyone can come to our (home) and we’ll play anyone, whoever is in front of us, and we will win. That’s just the mentality we have this year and I think it’s very special because not a lot of teams have that,” Dickerson said. “Something about this Peoria City team is truly special, something I’ve never been a part of before.

If Peoria City wins Friday night, it would advance to a Sunday league semifinal game against the winner of match-up between FC Tucson of Arizona and Project 510 out of Oakland, California.

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