Park Hill South’s Lilly Reuscher scored the first of four goals in the opening game of the Class 4 District 8 Tournament at Park Hill South High School on May 13.
The final four games of regular season play were less than ideal for the Park Hill South girls’ soccer team (13-7) – who lost all of them – but it bounced back when it mattered the most, pulling out a 4-0 victory over St. Joseph’s Central (8-11) in districts on May 13.
The Lady Panthers are the No. 2 seed in the Class 4 District 8 Tournament and were in control over the No. 7 seed from the opening minutes of the first-round matchup. Lilly Reuscher scored in the first few minutes and Park Hill South never look back, recording a shutout and moving on to the next round of districts.
Before the postseason, Park Hill South had been outscored 7-1 in its previous four contests. The sole goal in that 4-game losing skid was in a 3-1 loss to Lee’s Summit (14-3) on May 9.
Lee’s Summit struck first in the second minute, but Reuscher tied the game up in the seventh minute off a penalty kick. The Lady Panthers gave up a score in the 16th minute to trail 2-1 at halftime and the game was put away with a late score in the 78th minute.
Park Hill South hosted Lee’s Summit North (14-4) in the regular season finale on May 11. The Lady Broncos scored back-to-back goals in the 17th and 19th minutes on a day that the Lady Panthers were outshot seven to one.
Park Hill South advanced to the Class 4 District 8 Semifinals and matched up with Liberty (14-8) on May 16. This was the third matchup of the season between the two squads with the Lady Blue Jays and Lady Panthers splitting the regular season series.