Platte County freshman Faith Burtchell did enough to keep the Pirates recent run of strong play going. The starting goalkeeper made three saves in a 5-minute stretch to keep the deficit at one goal in a matchup with Raymore-Peculiar on Friday, May 1 at Pirate Stadium. She gave the Pirates a chance to come up with an equalizer, but they didn’t manage any shots in a 1-0 loss.
Platte County entered after winning two of three in the North Kansas City Tournament the previous week.
“She did well,” Platte County coach Ashlyn Brantley said of Burtchell’s showing against Ray-Pec. “The problems that we have come from the field. We take it as a team. I think she did well. We would like to limit those opportunities that they have. We appreciate those saves, and we give her kudos for making those tonight.”
Burtchell’s first second-half save came in the 53rd minute after a cross to the back post found the feet of a streaking Raegan Edwards, whose shot was parried back into play. Platte County’s Haley Valentine cleaned up the loose ball before the Panthers could put the rebound into the net.
After adding two more in the next few minutes, Burtchell finished with nine saves.
The lone goal came from Edwards in the 18th minute, and the strike stood up the rest of the way with Platte County unable to generate many opportunities on goal. Katana Audas had the best chance for the Pirates with less than 10 minutes remaining. The sophomore midfielder latched onto a long ball, but her final touch was too strong, allowing the Panthers goalkeeper to scoop up the bouncing ball.
“Ray-Pec is a good team. They played at a high tempo,” Brantley said. “I feel like we were a step behind. We started out alright then we got a step behind, and we were playing reactive soccer tonight. We try to learn from these games where we lose when we make mistakes. We work on it in practice and focus on the things we need to work on. We need to transfer it from practice into the game, making that connection.”
The showing in the NKC Tournament included avenging a previous loss to St. Joseph Central. Brooke Zenner scored all four goals in a 4-2 win against the Indians, who won the first matchup between the two 4-0. The Pirates also beat Oak Park (8-0) and a loss to Class 4 state-ranked Lee’s Summit (2-0).
Park Hill South 5, Staley 2
The Panthers scored four unanswered, including all three of Shay Jackson’s hat trick goals, to pull away Friday, May 1 at North Kansas City District Activities Complex in Kansas City, Mo.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute on Carli Hanlon’s successful penalty kick, Park Hill South lost its four-game shutout streak when Harrison Hayworth leveled for the Falcons in the 17th minute. However, a late first-half barrage with goals from Margaret McKeon (28th minute) and Jackson (30th and 36th minutes) gave the Panthers a 4-1 lead at the break.
Park Hill South 4, Liberty 0
Anna Courtney and Jackson scored two goals apiece to lead the Panthers to a second straight Suburban Conference Red Division win against the Blue Jays.
Courtney also assisted on one of Jackson’s goals Tuesday, April 28 at Park Hill District Soccer Complex in Riverside, Mo. The duo scored one each in both halves of the shutout. Courtney opened the scoring in the 28th minute on an assist from Sadie Grigsby, and Jackson made it 2-0 6 minutes later on a setup from Meghan Jones.
Kallen Mazeitis earned the assist on Courtney’s second in the 53rd, and Jackson tallied the final marker in the 73rd.
Haley Mills recorded the clean sheet in goal with coach Joe Toigo noting a strong effort from defenders Flannery Koelliker and Erica Timmerman.
Park Hill South 7, St. Joseph Central 0
The Panthers remained unbeaten at home, taking a 5-0 lead into halftime Thursday, April 30 at Park Hill District Soccer Complex in Riverside, Mo.
Jackson scored back-to-back goals in the 14th and 16th minutes to build a 2-0 advantage then recorded an assist on Courtney’s goal in the 34th minute to cap a busy first half. Jackson also assisted Madi Sanders on the second half opener before completing her hat trick with a 73rd-minute goal on an assist from Mazeitis.
Jones and Mayleigh Oder also scored goals.
A scheduled matchup between Park Hill and Park Hill South on Monday, May 4 was postponed due to inclement weather. The two teams will now play on Tuesday, May 12 with the second Red Division matchup just two days later on Thursday, May 14.
Park Hill 5, St. Joseph Central 1
Allie Simpson scored a hat trick to lead a rout of the Indians on Tuesday, April 28 in St. Joseph, Mo. Park Hill led 5-0 after Bella Catano scored in the 64th minute. Central added its goal three minutes later against goalkeeper Kelby Emerson, who made one save.
Alison Walls was the third goalscorer for Park Hill.
Park Hill 8, Truman 0
The Trojans improved to 5-0 in Red Division play behind a hat trick from Alison Walls on Thursday, April 30 in Independence, Mo. Jenna Winebrenner scored two more for Park Hill, which won two straight entering the scheduled matchup with Park Hill South.
Catano, Simpson and Nowakowski scored the other three goals.