Park Hill gets a draw in state soccer; Pius falls to Kennedy

Source: The Star

Sid Hastings | Special to The Star

Hickman’s Taylor Cox (left) and Park Hill’s Quenton Noble battled for the ball in Saturday’s third-place game.

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FENTON, Mo. | Even though they played the better part of the game a man down due to a first-half ejection, the Park Hill soccer team salvaged a 1-1 tie with Hickman on Saturday afternoon in the Missouri Class 3 third-place game at Anheuser-Busch Center in suburban St. Louis.

“I’m very proud of my team and the way we played, especially in the second half,” Trojans coach Dustin Sollars said. “At halftime, what we talked about most was winning the small challenges. When there was a 50-50 ball, we had to find a way to win it. And that’s what we did. Our guys stepped it up and gave us everything they had to give.”

Interestingly, the Trojans, 24-6-1, seemed to play better after senior Austin Melott had been sent off, apparently for grabbing a jersey. While Sollars did not agree with the call, he did understand it.

“The problem is: We come here and run into a bunch of officials we’ve never seen before,” he said. “A yellow? Probably, but I didn’t see that as a red-card call. But the official was in position, and he made the call he felt he needed to make.”

Hickman scored in the first half, getting a goal from Brian Wilcox. Park Hill tied it 7 1/2 minutes after halftime, on a goal from Neal Sampson.

The Trojans had plenty of chances through the rest of the match, but could not finish. Park Hill’s Devon Belew tested Hickman keeper Chuck Wilson with a low blast. The rebound attempt, from Ray Lee, was blocked by the Kewpie defense. Late in the match, Wilson came up with a stop on a shot from Quenton Noble.

Hickman’s Taylor Cox had a chance in the game’s waning seconds, but Trojan keeper Shane VanHooser came up with a diving stop.

“Nobody comes here looking to finish third, but I think we have to look at this as a learning experience as much as anything else,” Sollars said. “We only lose three or four seniors, so hopefully we can build on this and do even better next time. Then again, getting back here is never easy.”

The trip to state was the third for Park Hill, which took third in 1986 and second in 1993. The Trojans were the first Kansas City team other than Rockhurst to reach state since 1996.

St. Louis powers CBC and St. Louis University High played for the title Saturday night.

Kennedy 3, St. Pius X 2Once again, St. Pius X could not close the deal.

A day after failing to hold a lead in a semifinal loss to eventual Missouri Class 1 state champion Whitfield, the Warriors were up 2-0 at halftime but ended up on the wrong end of a 3-2 score against Kennedy of St. Louis in Saturday’s third-place game at the Anheuser-Busch Center in suburban St. Louis.

It was the second consecutive fourth-place state finish for St. Pius, 22-7.

St. Pius went up about 13 minutes into the game when Joseph Tyner knocked in a pass from Craig Henry. The lead went to 2-0 when Grant Geary converted a pretty slotted pass from Conor Parrish.

But Kennedy (20-9) came out strong after halftime. The Celts, who had fallen 3-0 to Springfield Catholic in Friday’s semifinals, picked up a goal from Tony Luedecke just 1:09 into the second half. Ten minutes later, Kennedy’s Dan McCune followed up on a Konner Kloster shot off the goal post to even the score at 2-2.

The game-winning goal came with 4:38 to play, when Kloster headed in a corner from Blake Ficken.

St. Pius created a few good second-half chances but was unable to convert. Kennedy back-up keeper Nick Luedecke came strong off his goal line to stuff Parrish early in the half. Late in the match, the Warriors’ Jason Orallo had his shot in the box blocked by the Kennedy defense.

Whitfield beat Springfield Catholic 1-0 in Saturday evening’s Class 1 title match.

submitted by JOE LYONS - 2009-11-21 21:56:01