St. Pius X falls in Missouri Class 1 third-place soccer game

FENTON, Mo. | The St. Pius X soccer Warriors took another step this season.

St. Pius fell to Springfield Catholic 3-1 Saturday in the Class 1 third-place game at the Missouri state soccer tournament at Anheuser-Busch Center in suburban St. Louis. But the 23-4 Warriors were far from upset despite going home winless from their first state soccer experience.

“After losing in the quarterfinals four times, it was good to get here and to experience this,” St. Pius coach Todd Ashby said. “Right now, we’re disappointed; it’s a hard pill to swallow. But after four times in the quarterfinals, this was good for us. Hopefully, it’s something we can build on.”

Springfield Catholic, 23-6, grabbed the lead midway through the opening half when David Bailey knocked in a volley from about 7 yards out. St. Pius pulled even about a minute later as Conor Parrish received a pass from Grant Geary and scored with a blast into the far-side netting.

Springfield Catholic regained the lead on a goal from Cullen Barr with 5:31 to play before halftime. Barr scored again late in the second half, knocking in a pass from Justin Bowenschulte.

Seconds before Barr’s second goal, the Warriors’ Parrish hit the goal post.

“That’s soccer,” Ashby said. “Sometimes you find the net and other times it goes off the crossbar.”

The contest was a physical one, featuring eight yellow cards. The Warriors received five of the cards, including two to junior defender Brandon Beyer, who was sent off with about seven minutes to play.

St. Pius started just three seniors this weekend, giving the Warriors plenty of incentive for the future.

“This weekend provided us some great experience; our guys know what it takes to get here and now they have a little better idea of what to expect,” Ashby said. “It also gives us a little more to work for. Now that we’ve finished fourth, our goal is to get back here and improve on that.”

submitted by JOE LYONS - 2008-11-22 22:05:01

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