Following Rock Bridge’s win over Nixa on Saturday afternoon, a game that Pattonville Coach Tom Iffrig attended (that’s him in the light blue t-shirt and dark glasses below Mike Scott of KSPR on camera), the other three spots in the Final 4 were determined last night.
Iffrig’s travels were fruitful as his Pirate’s team got past Francis Howell 2-0 to advance to the Final 4 for the second straight year. The Pirate’s clobbered Glendale 4-0 last year in the 3rd place game. The Pirate’s team includes Tiffany Laughlin, who is their second leading scorer with 15 goals and is headed to Missouri State this Fall.
Friday June 4th – Pattonville Pirates vs Rock Bridge Bruins, 7:00 pm
Friday June 4th – Cor Jesu Academy vs Liberty Jays, 5:00 pm
In the other Quarterfinal in St Louis, Cor Jesu Academy senior Caiti Huber scored on low, hard shot from about 22 yards out early in the first 15-minute overtime period Saturday evening, lifting the Chargers to a 1-0 victory over two-time defending state champion Incarnate Word Academy in Class 3 quarterfinal action at Anheuser-Busch Center. The loss ended a string of three title-game appearances for the Red Knights, who were state runners-up in 2007. The Red Knights beat Glendale 5-0 in the 2008 Quarterfinal enroute to their title.
Liberty reaches the Final 4 with their win over Lees Summit North, the team that won this same game last year. It was the third time the two teams met this year. Here’s the KC Star report on the 6-1 Jay win
Saying the Liberty girls simply had motivation to beat Lee’s Summit North in their Missouri Class 3 soccer quarterfinal game Saturday at Excelsior Springs would be a massive understatement.
Lee’s Summit North not only dealt Liberty a two-goal loss earlier this season, it also staged a comeback to beat Liberty in the quarterfinals of last year’s state tournament. Throw in the fact that Liberty returns several players from last year and has never qualified for the state semifinals, and you see why the Blue Jays were so charged up during a 6-1 victory.
“We came out really hungry because we were in the same position last year,” said junior forward Shea Groom.
And Groom, the reigning Gatorade Missouri girls soccer player of the year, certainly did her part in making sure history didn’t repeat itself. She scored three goals, with the first, which came off a corner kick, breaking a scoreless tie in the 31st minute of the first half. Liberty’s Brooke Williams then followed with two more goals —in the 39th minute and in the 42nd minute.
Dang, I thought I might take it easy next weekend and only cover the Class 1 games and Catholic. Reading about these dramatic games, and knowing that the Jay’s have a pair of US National team players in Shea Groom and Kaysie Clark, I just may have to find some time to get out for those games.
