The Platte County boys’ soccer team (14-4) has now won six straight games to help lock up the No. 2 seed in the Class 3 District 8 Tournament.
Since losing 2-1 to Park Hill South (10-6) on Oct. 6, the Pirates have outscored their opponents 23-7. Three of those victories were in shut out fashion.
In the 5-2 double overtime win against Smithville (11-6-2) on Oct. 18, Platte County senior Aaron Cordova got the ball rolling with the opening score of the day. The team’s leading scorer on the year gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead with a goal in the ninth minute of the contest.
The Warriors wasted no time knotting the game up less than three minutes later. There were no more goals for the rest of the half as the game headed into the break tied 1-1.
Smithville went up 2-1 with 27:20 left in the second half, but Platte County bounced back. Cordova found the back of the net once again with 20 minutes left and the game eventually went into overtime tied at two.
Platte County senior Aaron Cordova has been a huge offensive threat that has helped the Pirates win their last six games.
The first overtime was a defensive battle, with both teams failing to score, and the game headed into double overtime with penalty kicks. Platte County senior Jordy Hedrick – who has stepped up as the Pirates’ goalkeeper for the first time in his career in 2022 – came up with some key saves as his offensive teammates converted on all three penalty kicks.
With three attempts, Hedrick blocked two of the three, with the other shot missing without his assistance. Cordova added another hat-trick to his senior resume with a converted penalty kick and was joined by the junior duo of Connor Currence and Gavin Nichols who led the Pirates to a double overtime victory over Smithville.
The 5-2 penalty kick win was the Pirates’ eighth time coming out on top in their last 10 tries and it didn’t stop there. Platte County defeated Grain Valley (10-6) 2-0 on Oct. 19 and William Chrisman 3-1 on Oct. 24.
Platte County will start the postseason off against Guadalupe Centers Charter (6-8-1) – who upset the Pirates 3-1 in the 2021 Class 3 District 8 Championship – on Oct 29 at 3 p.m. The district tournament will take place at Pembroke High School with the semifinals being on Nov. 1 and the championship being on Nov. 3.