The Blue Jays season came to an end at the hands of their East side nemesis, Springfield Catholic, during the District Final this year. The 100th win came on Monday September 19th with a 2-0 win over the Aurora Houn’Dawgs.

The team went on to finish (need some help on this, the website is incomplete!). It’s important because he’s probably approaching 200 total wins at Greenwood.

Chris has a 83-47-2 record on the Girls side. The team is 6-1 this year with the most recent win coming against the West Plains Zizzers. The Blue Jays will take on Joplin McAuley on Monday evening, always a competitive and entertaining game.

Next time you see Coach Shull, please take the time to congratulate him!

First year coach Tom Guinn didn’t know what to expect when he took the job as head coach of the boys soccer team at Springfield Catholic. He had never even seen them play. Guinn knew about the team’s recent success but he was told the Irish had lost quite a few seniors and he would have his work cut out for him.

“Going into it I knew the expectations were going to be high,” Guinn said. I knew people were expecting us to win but I didn’t know what kind of talent we were going to have. I would say within the first week or so I knew that this team was going to be good.”

Guinn’s gut feeling turned out to be a little off, the Springfield Catholic boys soccer team was a lot better than good. On Sunday, they capped an undefeated 29-0-1 season with a Class 1 State Championship by beating Pembroke Hill (KC) 1-0 in Blue Springs.

The state title was the first by a boys’ soccer team in Southwest Missouri and it was a long time coming for the Irish. Though this is only the fifth year of the boys’ soccer program at Springfield Catholic, the team has seen its share of heartbreak. After finishing third in 2008, the Irish were beaten in the state championship game the next two seasons.

Senior midfielder Luke Straus started in every Irish state tournament game. He said it was a huge relief for the team to finally break through this season.

“My freshman year was the first time we ever went to state so honestly I was pretty happy with third and just going to state,” Straus said. “The last two years have been pretty painful because we knew we were the better team.”

Last season, the Irish entered the state championship game as heavy favorites against a Whitfield team they had beaten 3-0 in the regular season only to be shutout 1-0. Things had an eerie feel as the Irish stepped onto the pitch Sunday against a Pembroke Hill team they had dominated in October.

“It was déjà vu all over again for us this year because we played Pembroke Hill in the regular season and beat them 3-0 and then we see them in the finals and we have a chance to exorcise our demons,” Guinn said. “I told the guys to realize that this isn’t a regular season game this is a state title game, it’s completely different and they need to come out and get things done.”

During the regular season, there were only three games that the Irish did not win by at least three goals (the tie came against Ft. Zumwalt West in the Gateway City Classic) but, like coach Guinn said, everything is different in the state title game.

Pembroke Hill hung right with the Irish, but in the end the better team found a way as junior forward Mitch Moncada’s header landed in the back of the net and the Irish were finally state champs.

To make sure that sure that they did not wear down at the end of the year, the Irish made conditioning a big part of their training. Senior defender Reid Harbach said that the team’s goal was to out-work everybody else.

“We like to keep a high level of practice all the time,” Harbach said. “We work hard during sprints and everything to make sure we’re more fit than the other teams because it makes a huge difference in the end.”

Coach Guinn said that a combination of great leadership from his five seniors and the team’s strong work ethic were what put the Irish over the top. He said that from the first day of practice, the Irish were fiercely intent on winning the title and going undefeated and being the first Springfield area team to do so were just icing on the cake.

“I think it does mean a lot now that we’ve done it,” Guinn said. “It does mean a lot to the Springfield community. It puts Springfield soccer on the map.”

Next season, coach Guinn and everyone else should have a pretty good idea of what the Springfield Catholic team is capable of. Now that they’ve gotten over the hump, good luck getting them back down.

This story was written by Harrison Keegan who previously covered Sporting KC on this website. He is a Missouri State student who covers sports for the Missouri State Standard and has also worked for TAGSGF.com.

MITCH MONCADA’S GAME WINNER AGAINST PEMBROKE HILL

FIRST TEAM
JAXN ROGERS, WILLARD
ROBERT NEATHERY, NIXA
LUKE MOORE, NIXA
DRAKE TREASE, NIXA
COREY CANN, NIXA
LUDIN GONZALES, CARTHAGE
MISAEL MATURINO, CARTHAGE
ISMAEL SERRATOS, CARTHAGE
ROBBIE OSLICA, OZARK
JACOB NEIDIG, OZARK
LUIS VARGAS, NEOSHO

SECOND TEAM
AARON TAPPANA, WEBB CITY
WALTER AVALOS, CARTHAGE
DUSTIN HILL, NEOSHO
CARLOS MENA, BRANSON
MATT JONES, WILLARD
HUGO DONJUAN, REPUBLIC
SCOTT STERLING, NIXA
MASON YOUNG, NIXA
VICTOR LOPEZ, CARTHAGE
PATRICK HUBBARD, BRANSON
JIMMY OSLICA, OZARK
JACOB AGEE, OZARK

HONORABLE MENTION
ALEX CHRISTIAN WEBB CITY
JOHN DELATORRE WILLARD
SPENCER SMITH WILLARD
MITCHELL HEINZLER REPUBLIC
CARLOS LUNA CARTHAGE
NICK MCDOWELL BRANSON
JAMESON MCFADDEN NIXA
ANDREW SCHENCK NIXA

Karl Dupont, Waynesville Tigers and Hunter Durham, Kickapoo Chiefs

Post season recognition. 55 boys are recognized by the 10 teams in the Ozark Conference.

MVP Defense – Griffen Locke, Joplin Eagles, 11
Co-Offensive MVP
* Karl DuPont, Waynesville Tigers, 12
* Hunter Durham, Kickapoo Chiefs, 11

Seed School Record
1 Joplin (17-3-2)
2 Carthage (14-6)
3 Willard (12-10)
4 Central (Springfield) (14-8)
5 Neosho (7-9)
6 Webb City (6-15)

Saturday October 31st at 3:00 pm – new Time, moved to Cooper Soccer Complex
#4 Central Bulldogs -
#5 Neosho Wildcats -

Saturday October 31st at 1:00 pm – new Time, moved to Cooper Soccer Complex
#3 Willard Tigers -
#6 Webb City Cardinals -

Tuesday November 1st at 4:30 pm
#1 Joplin Eagles -
#4 Central Bulldogs/#5 Neosho Wildcats winner -

Tuesday November 1st at 6:30 pm
#2 Carthage Tigers -
#3 Willard Tigers/#6 Webb City Cardinals winner -

FINAL – Thursday November 3rd at 6:30 pm

MSHSAA Link

For the Eagles, it was their win at Rolla on Tuesday. From the Joplin Globe following the Eagles win Tuesday at Rolla –

Dig up all those cliches — such as “biggest win in years” — for the Joplin High School soccer team. It really was the Eagles’ biggest win in years.

Joplin earned a share of the Ozark Conference title by beating Rolla 3-0 on Tuesday.

Said Miller: “I believe we’d been in this position previously three times in my 12 years (as head coach). Our goal always has been a get a banner to hang up. This is our first championship — outright or shared — since 1993.”

The Eagles scored their goals in the first half — Jonathan Ponce (assisted by Luis Santillan) at 3:00, Joseph Rice at 4:00 and Colton Maggard at 35:00. Brock Renken had six saves, according to Joplin statistics.

Coach Nick Schmitt at ZizzerSoccer.com has the entire Conference table.

9/6 Waynesville – 3 Joplin – 1
10/4 Joplin – 3 Kickapoo – 2
10/26 Glendale – 1 Waynesville – 2 (OT)

Seed School Record
1 Bolivar (15-6)
2 Logan-Rogersville (14-9)
3 Republic (3-13)
4 Marshfield (5-19)
5 Hillcrest (2-18)

Saturday October 29th at 1:00 pm
#4 Marshfield Blue Jays –
#5 Hillcrest Hornets –

Monday October 31st at 4:00 pm
#1 Bolivar Liberators -
#4 Marshfield Blue Jays/#5 Hillcrest Hornets winner -

Monday October 31st at 6:00 pm
#2 Logan-Rogersville Wildcats –
#3 Republic Tigers –

FINAL – Tuesday November 1st at 6:00 pm

MSHSAA Link

Seed School Record
1 Dixon (11-4)
2 Crocker (11-11)
3 Laquey (8-8)
4 Richland (7-9)

Monday October 31st at 4:30 pm
#1 Dixon Bulldogs -
#4 Richland Bears -

Tuesday November 1st at 4:30 pm
#2 Crocker Lions -
#3 Laquey Hornets -

FINAL – Friday November 3rd at 4:30 pm

MSHSAA Link

The Eagles went undefeated and unscored on during their Conference matches, outscoring their opponents 46-0.

9/6 Republic W 8-0
9/15 Neosho W 9-0
9/20 Webb City W 10-0
9/29 Ozark W 5-0
10/3 Willard W 1-0
10/13 Carthage W 4-0
10/20 Branson W 9-0

The only loss in the Conference came against the Small School titleist, Springfield Catholic, 1-4 last Saturday.

Seed School Record
1 Nixa (20-3)
2 Kickapoo (19-5)
3 Glendale (13-9)
4 Ozark (10-10)
5 Parkview (7-12)
6 Branson (5-10-3)

Saturday October 29th at 1:00 pm
#4 Ozark Tigers –
#5 Parkview Vikings -

Saturday October 29th at 3:00 pm
#3 Glendale Falcons -
#6 Branson Pirates -

Tuesday November 1st at 5:00 pm
#1 Nixa Eagles -
#4 Ozark Tigers/#5 Parkview Vikings winner -

Tuesday November 1st at 7:00 pm
#2 Kickapoo Chiefs -
#3 Glendale Falcons/#6 Branson Pirates winner -

FINAL Thursday November 3rd at 6:00 pm

MSHSAA Link

Seed School Record
1 Waynesville (12-6)
2 Rolla (15-6)
3 Camdenton (6-14)
4 West Plains (9-11)
5 Lebanon (4-19)

Saturday October 29th at 1:00 PM
#4 West Plains Zizzers –
#5 Lebanon Yellowjackets –

Monday October 31st at 5:00 PM
#1 Waynesville Tigers -
#4 West Plains Zizzers/#5 Lebanon Yellowjackets winner -

Monday October 31st at 7:00 PM
#2 Rolla Bulldogs –
# Camdenton Lakers –

FINAL – Wednesday November 2nd at 6:00 PM

MSHSAA link

Catholic, 2010 District Champs (by Duane Moses)

Seed School Record
1 Springfield Catholic (20-0-1)
2 Greenwood (9-9-1)
3 College Heights Christian (18-5)
4 New Covenant Academy (5-13-1)
5 Thomas Jefferson Independent (8-6)

Saturday Oct 29th at 10:00 AM
#4 New Covenant Warriors -
#5 Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers –

Tuesday November 1st at 4:30 PM
# 1 Springfield Catholic –
#4 New Covenant Warriors/#5 Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers winner -

Tuesday November 1st at 4:30 PM
#2 Greenwood Blue Jays –
#3 College Heights Cougars -

Final – Tuesday November 2nd at 6:00 pm