CHAMPAIGN — Jackson Gilbert found a way to remain athletically busy earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Urbana sophomore traveled to Satellite Beach, Fla., last August for the AAU Junior Olympic Games. He represented a Decatur-based independent track and field team called The Dominators.
And Gilbert impressed, ranking eighth in the 400-meter dash and fifth in the 800 run among 15- and 16-year-old boys. Armed with this information, it’s not surprising to see Gilbert leaving opponents in the dust when he’s playing high school soccer for coach James Barkley’s Tigers.
“That’s my style of play is to just attack and keep running,” Gilbert said Tuesday after tallying a hat trick during Urbana’s season-opening 4-1 victory against Uni High at the UI Turf Fields. “You usually run for days. We’ve still got to get back in that running shape because we haven’t been playing very much.”
Perhaps both the Tigers (1-0) and Illineks (0-1) needed to shake off some cobwebs in this nonconference rivalry match. After all, this was the first match for each team since October 2019, with the pandemic delaying the 2020 boys’ soccer campaign until a March 2021 start.
“It means everything,” Barkley said. “To be out here playing a game is wonderful. I know I talked with the AD of Uni (Tim Bicknell) before the game, and we both were just kind of giddy just to be able to have this match.”
The sides opened with a lengthy feeling-out process that included few scoring chances and plenty of pass attempts affected by a stiff wind gusting to the north.
“It’s been a minute,” said Gilbert, who acknowledged he rarely played club soccer while away from Urbana’s program. “Started off a little rusty, but we haven’t played in a long time. We can overcome those challenges we started (with) at the beginning.”
Uni High senior Lucas Wood constituted the primary challenge faced by the Tigers. An Illineks offensive-zone throw-in midway through the opening half eventually found Wood, and he fired a frozen rope of a shot past Urbana goalkeeper Charles Mandra to give Uni High a 1-0 advantage.
“He’s definitely going to be a standout guy,” Uni high coach Joe Krehbiel said of Wood, who generated 24 goals last season. “In the second half … we were kind of relying on him for getting something going forward.”
Wood nearly staked the Illineks to a 2-0 lead after a Tigers miscue in the box permitted Wood a penalty kick. Mandra was up to the challenge this time, sprawling to his right for a low save.
“It turned the whole game around,” Gilbert said of Mandra’s stop. “When he makes the save, everyone just (gets an) ego boost. We have confidence, and then it just starts the whole train moving forward.”
Gilbert looked like a runaway train on the first of his three goals, a solo effort that saw him cover nearly three-fourths of the pitch before beating Uni High keeper Elliot Gengler with a top-shelf shot.
Urbana controlled nearly all of the play after intermission, attempting nine shots on goals and eight corner kicks. Sam Rummenie found Jackson Kirkland with a picture-perfect cross in transition for the go-ahead goal. Gilbert plunged through the middle of the Illineks’ defense to extend the Tigers’ lead to 3-1. And William Arana flicked a nifty backward pass to Gilbert as the setup for Urbana’s last marker.
Gilbert nearly collected four goals on the day, but another of his shots banged off the underside of the crossbar.
“He’s really fast,” Barkley said of Gilbert. “We’ve got a couple of fast guys out there, and we did some speed work over the summer. We’re really trying to get that back now.”
The Tigers focused on preventing Wood from getting the ball in the second half. Runs by fellow Illineks Curtis Althaus, who assisted on Wood’s goal, and Nabeel Bashir ultimately ended with the ball outside Urbana’s net.
“We just don’t have that many subs for our team, so I think our guys are getting a little tired, first game against a tough team,” Krehbiel said. “I’ll give it to Urbana — they came out a lot better in the second half.”
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