Darcy Cato, Skylar Rash, Ella Nelson and Lydia Kelelr share a hug after the Park Hill girls’ soccer team lost 2-0 to Staley in the first round of districts on May 14.
A Staley (14-6) goal in the first 78 seconds in the opening round of the Class 4 District 8 Tournament haunted the Park Hill girls’ soccer team (5-16), resulting in a 2-0 loss to end the Lady Trojans’ season on May 14.
Park Hill dominated the time of possession and aggressiveness in the opening half, but Staley went into the break with a 1-0 lead. After the fast goal to set the tone of the postseason contest, the Falcons didn’t have another shot on goal until the second half.
“I think any coach and player knows that’s not ideal because you’re battling it out from behind,” Park Hill girls’ soccer coach Mackenzie Heavey said. “We fought and I’m proud of the way we played; we just weren’t able to pull out the win.”
The Lady Trojans spent the final 38:42 of the first half behind but continued to create opportunities to score. In the first half Park Hill had 17 shots and six shots on goal, along with six free kicks and four corner kicks.
“It just wasn’t clicking; we tried some stuff with different people up front and different formations. We had some decent chances, but we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net,” Heavey said.
Park Hill continued to be aggressive in the second half, but a Staley goal with 15:36 on the clock all but sealed the game. Seniors Antonio Muniz, Ava Romsland and Darcy Cato played their last game for Park Hill with the 2-0 loss.
“It’s hard, I feel for them. They had the Covid year that they lost and a couple of them have battled some injuries, but I’m going to miss them. They’re great leaders, however a couple of them will be playing in college so their careers aren’t over yet,” Heavey said.
While the Lady Trojans ended with a losing record, they fought all season long and earned the No. 4 seed in the postseason tournament. Park Hill has many returning players for next season and is hopeful to bounce back next spring.
“We fought every game, we tried to take lessons away from each game regardless of if it was a win or a loss. We’re young, we have some young players that I’m excited to work with; we had six or seven freshmen that started this year, so we’ll be back,” Heavey said.