On Wednesday night, it was Caleb’s younger brother’s time to shine on the same pitch, against the same opponent.

Senior Jonah Foley scored both goals as the second-seeded Red Dragons beat the third-seeded Cardinals 2-0 in a Class C semifinal.

“I just got the opportunities. The hard work my teammates did ended up finding its way to me,” Foley said postgame. ” … We have good history on this field since my brother scored an overtime game-winner here. I just felt good.”

The win sends Maple Grove, which won three straight crowns from 2019-21, into Monday’s 5 p.m. championship game against No. 1 Wilson at West Seneca West High School. The Lakemen beat No. 4 Westfield/Brocton 4-2 in Wednesday’s second semifinal in Eden.

Maple Grove’s Jonah Foley, right, plays the ball in front of Randolph’s Parker Patterson during Wednesday’s Section VI Class C semifinal at William Bos Field in Eden. Photo by Mike Frame

“Seeing all the guys in front of us take home the sectional final, being a part of a state run and then last year coming up short,” Foley said, “we want nothing more than to bring home another sectional title.”

After his team’s quarterfinal last week, Randolph head coach David Pihlblad predicted a high-scoring game in the semifinals.

That was not the case.

The teams nearly played a scoreless first half. Inside the final minute, Cardinals keeper Delsin Tallchief made a diving stop, but the rebound couldn’t be cleared and Foley powered home the bouncing ball for a 1-0 lead with 11 seconds remaining.

“Patience is key; wait for your opportunity and take advantage of it,” Maple Grove head coach Eric Daigler said of the goal. “That’s exactly what they did in that moment. I could not be prouder as their coach.”

“I was too focused on the moment. I wasn’t really aware of the time that was left,” Foley added. “Right before I shot, I peaked up and saw that there was nothing left. I put a shot on net and hoped it went in.”

“We tried to play it short to try and waste clock,” Pihlblad said, “but a turnover definitely changed the game right there.”

After halftime, armed with the one-goal lead, Maple Grove was able to play the possession game it wanted and limit Randolph’s chances, despite the Cardinals featuring 35-goal scorer Cooper Freeman and 25-goal scorer Diego Stradi.

“Our defense was locked in,” Foley said. “They were prepared for every ball over the top because they knew that’s how they got a lot of their goals.”

In fact, for the entire game, Red Dragons keeper Nathan Cresanti was only credited with two saves.

“Possession is control, we’ve preached it all year long. It really showed on the scoreboard and on the stat sheet,” Daigler said. “I think we held them to three shots, which is absolutely incredible against a team like that.”

Tallchief made a big save on Maple Grove junior Drew Oste in the 47th minute – one of his 11 for the game – but 12 minutes later, he wasn’t as fortunate.

Foley took a pass from Oste, got free around 25 yards away from the Randolph goal and placed a perfect shot into the top-right corner to make it 2-0 with 21:03 remaining.

“The second goal was just a fantastic finish that no goalie is going to save,” Pihlblad said.

From there, the Red Dragons defense – notably a back line of Matt Trim, Trey DeMink, Ryan Lockwood and Jake Reinhardt – as well as defensive midfielders Gavin Rodgers and Fletcher DeMink stymied every opportunity the Cardinals presented.

“It’s all communication and organization,” Daigler said. “The centerbacks organized that and led that, but the two guys in front of them deserve credit for that too.”

With just over 16 minutes remaining, Cresanti stopped a left-footed drive by Freeman and nearly six minutes later Randolph missed a couple of opportunities inside the Red Dragons’ 18-yard box after a long Griffin Nelson throw-in, but by then it was too late.

“We had a couple of chances that maybe just didn’t go our way tonight. If you would’ve told me that we’d hold them to two goals, I thought we had a really good chance to win that game,” Pihlblad said. ” … It just wasn’t our night tonight.”

Now Maple Grove will look to get back to where it believes is its rightful place in the Section VI hierarchy.

“The year we made our state final run, I walked into this program as the modified coach. I got to learn the ropes under Cara Abbey, who was a strong establisher of this program,” Daigler said. ” … It’s a very strong program. These guys are incredible.”