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Another 2nd-Place Finish For Trinity Soccer; Springfield Catholic Takes 1st
By Jim Wieners
For the second year in a row Trinity Catholic High School Girls Soccer takes home a Class One State Second Place Trophy from the Missouri State High School Activities Association June 5 at the Anheuser-Busch Center (formerly St. Louis Soccer Park), Fenton.
And for the second year in a row Trinity’s opponent wins their first state soccer title. Last year Perryville-St. Vincent won their first state girls soccer title but on June 5 had to settle for third place. This year Springfield Catholic ended St. Vincent’s repeat hopes June 4 with a 1-0 semifinal win then avenged last year’s 2-0 loss to Trinity June 5 with a 3-0 state championship shutout. It was the first state soccer title for any school in Springfield, boys or girls.
Since Trinity Catholic opened the doors in 2003 as a result of the St. Thomas Aquinas-Mercy-Rosary merger the boys and girls soccer teams have combined for five second-place finishes. Four of their opponents — two boys and two girls — have won their first and, so far, only titles at Trinity’s expense.
Trinity head coach, and athletic director, Vince Drake, who coached Aquinas-Mercy to the 1987 Girls State title and took Aquinas to 11 boys titles in 12 title game appearances (9-0 after the Aquinas-Mercy merger), has not had the same success at Trinity. However this year’s girls team overcame a 4-12-1 start to end the season at 13-14-2 (3-4-1 and fourth place in the Archdiocesan Athletic Association). Despite losing in the title game Drake said ‘we’re proud of the way we play the game.”
Springfield Catholic was “the superior team beyond a doubt.” The Irish had 17 shots, 12 on goal but Trinity junior goalkeeper Taylor Zerbe, who Drake said “worked her butt off” with nine saves. However, at 54:18 sophomore Rebekah broke a scoreless tie with a shot over Zerbe’s head which surprised the Titan keeper according to Drake.
About 79 seconds later Bade set up a scoring pass to junior Shelby Hatz to increase the Irish lead to 2-0. And Springfield Catholic wrapped up the scoring with 4:36 left on an own goal off a Trinity player as junior Natalie Smid, who scored the only semifinal goal against St. Vincent, was credited for the third Irish goal against the Titans. Irish junior goalkeeper Rachel Scott only stopped one shot junior Heather Wein with 2:53 left in the first half.
Springfield Catholic Boys had a chance to win state but lost in the Class One title game on Nov. 21, a 1-0 shutout by six-time state champion Whitfield, most by a non-Catholic private school.
On June 4 Trinity defeated won the Class One semifinal with a 2-0 shutout over Barstow, a private co-ed Kansas City high school making their first girls semifinal appearance. After a scoreless first half Trinity got second-half goals by sophomore Caroline Keppler and freshman Margaret Dailey. Barstow ended up taking fourth place June 5 with a 2-0 loss to St. Vincent.
The Semifinal and Championship games played by Trinity were under sunny and very hot conditions of over 90 degrees each day.
PATTONVILLE, who finished third in the Suburban North Conference (4-2) behind Hazelwood Central and Hazelwood West, took second in Class Three State and finished with a 21-7 record. Pattonville won District Two by defeating Fort Zumwalt East, 2-0, and Francis Howell North, 1-0. The Pirates defeated Jackson, 2-1, in the Sectionals, Francis Howell High, 2-0, in the State Quarterfinals and Columbia-Rock Bridge, 2-1, in the State Semifinals before losing to first-time champion Liberty, 7-2, in the State Title game.
It was the second time Pattonville took second in state. In the 1988 Championship game Pattonville lost 2-1 to Nerinx Hall. Lat year Pattonville took third in Class Three.
VISITATION ACADEMY won Class Two State title, the schools third title ever. Visitation (19-6-1) won District Four over St. Charles High, 3-1, Westminster Christian Academy, 1-0 in overtime, and St. Dominic 2-1. Viz defeated Rosati-Kain, 2-0 in the Quarterfinals, Platte County, 1-0 in the Semifinals, and Notre Dame-St. Louis, 5-3 in the Championship game.
Viz became the first school in Missouri to win a state title with a losing record (12-15-1) winning Class One in 2004 over Springfield Catholic (2-1) and Shared the 2006 Class One title with Lee’s Summit West following a scoreless, four-overtime tie.
