The Fightin’ Irish travel to Waynesville tonight for a game against the Southern Boone County Eagles. Game time is 6:00 pm on the artificial turf at the former High School, now Middle School facility. The Quarterfinal game will determine who advances to the State Final Four on June 4-5 in Fenton, MO. The local paper in Boone County offers this look at the Eagles

All season long the SoBoCo Eagles soccer team was expected to defend their 2009 district title. Winning a title, coach Chris Miller would say, is difficult, defending that title is more difficult. It’s not like we’re going to surprise anyone,” Miller said early in the season.”

But the Eagles came at teams in waves of offense, speed and plenty of substitutes. It was the proper mixture for their district title championship game in Stover on Monday where they defeated Dixon 2-0. The win marks the Eagles’ second district title in as many years and sets a record for team wins with a 20-5 mark.

Southern Boone County Eagles – 0
Springfield Catholic Fightin’ Irish – 4
In a game that SoBoCo Head Coach Chris Miller described as much more competitive then last years, the Eagles came out well organized and prepared for Catholic’s multi-dimensional attack. The first half offered a significant possession advantage for Catholic but only two shots on goal and 3 corner kicks, the first at the midway point when Shelby Hatz was able to get off a hard shot as she moved from left to right across the top of the box. SoBoCo were unable to test Rachel Scott in Catholic’s goal.

The second half was all Catholic, opened up by junior midfielder Natalie Smid’s goal in the 46th minute. The goal, which you can see below, started in the back with Connor Guy stepping forward to intercept a pass and make an intelligent run down the left side where she found plenty of space. When she did pass, she found Andrea Parker’s feet who turned and quickly pushed the ball into Smid’s path. Smid’s run took her into the box and a quick left-footed shot entered just inside the upright for the game-winner.

Smid finished with a hat-trick this evening. Her next goal came in the 53rd, running onto Shelby Hatz’s cross from the left side. Smid met the ball on the edge of the 6 yard box and volleyed it past the goalkeeper who could only react to the ball as it went past her. Her final goal came when Jordan Banasik, who brought a lot of energy to the Irish attack during her shifts, stretched to get to a ball and pushed it into the middle. Natalie picked it up, one touch forward and another excellent left-footed shot to the far post.

Banasik was rewarded for her hard work in the 69th when she was in position to bury the ball past a prone keeper and defender. Shelby Hatz’s hard shot from the right side was stopped by the keeper but Jordan pounced on the rebound for the final margin. Photos from the game at the bottom of this story.

St. Vincent – 8
St. Elizabeth Academy – 0
The Indians peppered the Hawks junior with quality shots, beating her eight times, as the defending Class 1 state champions advanced to the final four with their 8-0 victory Thursday at the Anheuser-Busch Center. “It’s an amazing feeling and we know we can do it again,” Brueckner said. “We know that we’re in the final four, we’re here and we want to win it all again. We know how that feels and it’s an awesome feeling.”

So Springfield Catholic advances to play the defending state champion St Vincent’s squad next Friday June 4th at 12:00 pm in a semifinal game of the State Final 4 Tournament.

John F. Kennedy – 1
Trinity Catholic – 2
With just under two minutes to play in the Titans’ Class 1 quarterfinal match with conference rival Kennedy, Jackson headed in a cross from senior Kelli Costello for a 2-1 Trinity victory. It was the team-leading 13th goal of the season for Jackson. And it was a first with her head.

Barstow – 1 (2nd OT)
Bishop LeBlond – 0

Trinity will face Barstow at 2:00 pm next Friday, June 4th in the second semifinal. Trinity lost to St Vincent in the Final last year after beating Catholic in the semifinal game.