Shortly after a late regular season matchup, the Park Hill (13-7) and Park Hill South (13-6) boys’ soccer teams are set for a postseason clash on Nov. 1.
The Panthers came out with a 1-0 victory over the Trojans on Oct. 25 – which was Park Hill’s final game of the regular season, but Park Hill South still had another as it defeated Liberty (7-10) two days later 4-0 – and both teams won their first game in the Class 4 District 8 Tournament. Being on the same side of the bracket, Park Hill South’s 2-1 win over Oak Park (11-7-1) and Park Hill’s 4-0 victory against St. Joseph’s Central (9-11) on Oct. 29 means there’s a relatively short break between the rival schools playing each other.
Park Hill is the No. 2 seed and Park Hill South is the No. 3 seed with the district tournament being at Oak Park High School. The rivals haven’t met in the postseason since 2018 when the Trojans came out with a 2-1 victory.
In the latest matchup, a first half goal by Quinlan McNellis in the 21st minute was the deciding factor. The first half was evenly matched with both teams having eight shots, but the Panther defense was able to keep the Trojans off the scoreboard for the entire contest to head into the postseason with three consecutive victories.
On the other side, Park Hill was riding a four-game winning streak before falling to Park Hill South. The Trojans bounced back in districts when they eliminated the Indians for the fourth time in the last seven years.
Park Hill South junior Quinlan McNellis (#26) was chased down by Park Hill’s James Betz (#6) and Braedon Nichols (#10) as McNellis scored the only goal of the regular season matchup on Oct. 25.
Since 2016, Park Hill and St. Joseph’s Central have met four times in the postseason with the Trojans winning all four contests by a total margin of 10-2. Dating back to 2014, Park Hill has won the last nine matchups including this season’s postseason win.
Park Hill shared the ball as Tanner Poirier, Lucas Hrisak, Luka Andonovski and Scotty Robertson all got on the scoreboard. Park Hill South won its postseason contest over the host school, Oak Park, 2-1 thanks to a pair of goals by McNellis.
The Panthers and Trojans entered the Class 4 District 8 Semifinals knowing that the winner advances to the district championship on Nov. 3 and the loser goes home with their season over.