Kankakee senior Alexis Cruz got his team off to a great start during Monday’s Class 2A Ottawa Regional semifinal against the host Pirates and the Kays never looked back.

Cruz worked around a defender and sent a right-footed rocket shot from 18-yards out on the left wing into the top weakside corner of the net just nine minutes in.

Subsectional No. 3-seeded Kankakee (18-6) then scored three more times over the next 20 minutes and eventually completed a 7-1 win over No. 5 Ottawa (10-11).

The Kays — now winners of 12 straight — will play La Salle-Peru, a 3-0 winner over Streator in the night’s opening match, at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the regional title.

“I happy to see the chemistry of this team come together,” Kankakee coach Vincent Mkhwanazi said. “The boys understand what is expect

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