PEORIA โ Peoria City Soccer got everything it wanted in its USL League 2 home opener Saturday at Shea Stadium.
Fans tailgated before the game, sang and chanted during the game, and after the game, kids kicked soccer balls and frolicked on the pitch to meet the players and collect autographs and photos.
City put up a dominant effort against the Chicago Dutch Lions, winning 4-0 for the first time in the 2024 season.
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Pepe Mellado, DJ Kourai, Luke Percenico and Daniil Sergiev scored Peoria's goals.
He scored his first goal of the season at Shea Stadium two minutes after Peoria was stopped on a penalty kick. Former Bradley midfielder Mellado, parked above the box and keeping his shadow towards the right side, shot a one-timer with his left foot off a cross-feed from Bradley player Charlie Dickerson at 20:54. He hit netminder Kayden Simpson inside the right post. He held on as the match winner.
In the 33rd minute, City forward Persenico broke through on the right side, received a through ball, rounded the corner of the defense, and immediately took a clean shot to take a 2-0 lead. The ball caught the netminder's hand and rolled toward the far post, where forward DJ Kourai reached the line and pushed it into the back of the cage.
Kooray's full name is Gibongihou “DJ” Kooray, and he was born in Ivory Coast. He enrolled at Bradley University in 2023 for his first year of NCAA Division I soccer.
Persenico made it 3-0 from a corner kick in the 59th minute.
Then, just 12 seconds before the end of the 60th minute, Daniil Sergiev made it 4-0 with a left-footed shot.
Peoria City next heads to Aurora for a road rematch against the Dutch Lions on Wednesday.
New coaches and more:Everything you need to know about the 2024 Peoria City Soccer Team.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star's sports columnist, covering Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the sports column “Cleve In The Eve” on his pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him at X.com @icetimecleve.