Peoria City Carp on track for championship after Tucson win Sunday at Shea Stadium

Posted on by Vaseline

PEORIA, Ill. – After a classic against Des Moines last weekend and a close battle against Flint City on Friday, things seemed to ease up a bit for Peoria City on Sunday.

The Carp, which has only been around for three years, secured their first ticket to the USL League Two championship match at Shea Stadium with a 5-1 win over Tucson FC.

The teams were scoreless at halftime. But Friday night’s hero, Luke Persenico, announced his presence in the game with a hat trick in 20 minutes. An own goal by Tucson FC gave Peoria its fourth of the game, and Joe McInnes made it five.

Persenico says he knew the team was going to win after seeing the atmosphere at half-time.

“I saw energy in the locker room and it just changed,” Persenico said. “When we came out, the first 10 minutes, it just showed that we came to win.”

Head coach Mike Paye says he gave a fiery locker room speech at halftime to motivate the team, and that he knew they could play better. He says he was proud of his team after the game.

“These guys are great players, great guys, fighters that love to win, they’re all about winning. I see these guys interacting with each other, it’s like they’ve been playing together for five, six, seven, eight years, and that’s the key to success,” Paye said.

According to captain Charlie Dickerson, it was team chemistry that enabled the team to reach the final.

“20 guys, I think that’s all we need,” Dickerson said. “No injuries, touch wood, we’ll keep it that way for the finals,” Dickerson said. “The team cohesion that we have, being together 24/7, living in the same apartments, training all the time, sticking together, joking around. And when it’s game time, we turn it on. And we go.”

Dickerson says the community support is the team’s “twelfth man” this season, and he cherishes the moments with the fans.

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