NORTH KANSAS CITY – The Park Hill South soccer program left it all on the field this school year, ending the fall and spring in agony in the aftermath of historical campaigns.
Park Hill South senior goalkeeper Kayla Thompson dives to prevent a goal in PKs of the Lady Panthers’ season-ending loss to Liberty North in the Class 4 District 8 Championship at Oak Park on May 15.
Last fall, the Park Hill South boys posted an impressive 20-3-1 record en route to the first state championship appearance since 1998. In that game, the Panthers were on the verge of going into overtime with Rockhurst – which was nationally ranked and the two-time defending state champion at the time – until a haunting Hawklet goal with five seconds left all but decided the season.
Fast forward nearly six months and the Park Hill South girls were in a strikingly similar situation on a smaller stage, meeting up with the reigning Class 4 State Champion Liberty North with a district title on the line at Oak Park High School on May 15. Following four rounds – two 40-minute halves and two 15-minute golden goal overtime periods – the game was at a stalemate, being tied 1-1.
The Class 4 District 8 Championship went into penalty kicks where Park Hill South kicked first, followed by Liberty North (13-4) and back to Park Hill South as the shots alternated back-and-forth. Five players on each team had an attempt and each made one kick on the first four tries.
Mackenzie Wright aimed for the top left of the goal, and it was stopped by the Lady Eagles’ goalkeeper. Lauren Wood then drilled her shot to the left to hand the Lady Panthers a brutal final blow to a historical spring.
“I’m extremely proud of the girls and am trying to give them that perspective that they’ll look back on the season and remember it as one of the best seasons of their lives,” Park Hill South girls’ soccer coach Jared Byrne said. “Everything on the field, off the field, everything, I’m proud of them and obviously disappointed in the outcome of this game.”
This was an exact rematch of the 2023 Class 4 District 8 Championship where Park Hill South was on the wrong side, losing 3-0, but that was a different team. This year, the Lady Panthers were nearly unbeatable as they entered their final game with a 21-1 record and were ranked No. 1 in the state according to the Missouri High School Coaches’ Association.
Senior forward Olivia Clemons scored 36 of the Lady Panthers’ 62 goals in the regular season, but unfortunately had an off-the-field injury the day of the district championship. She suited out, but never stepped onto the field of play.
Park Hill South freshman Aubrey Bryant had the team’s only goal prior to PKs in the Class 4 District 8 Championship.
“I think mentally it was kind of a last-minute thing that nobody was expecting and that didn’t get us a good start. They (Liberty North) scored early on. I didn’t think they had great chances besides that one, and I think maybe we were still recovering mentally from losing such a big piece of our team,” Byrne said.
Liberty North scored in the first five minutes and Park Hill South didn’t even get a shot up until freshman Aubrey Bryant did in the 26th minute. She added a shot on goal four minutes later and the No. 1 seed made some halftime adjustments being down 1-0.
After having no corner kicks in the first half, the Lady Panthers had three in a three-minute stint in the second half following a shot on goal by Lilly Reuscher off a free kick. On a corner from the left side, Savanna Pittman made contact on goal and Anna Bolger headed the deflection, which hit a Liberty North player and set up a corner from the left.
Reuscher sent the ball towards the pack of players in the box and the Lady Eagles nearly had an own-goal as a defender headed the ball into the upper bar and it bounced down in the field of play. Bryant put back the loose ball into the back of the net, tying the game in the 47th minute.
“We talked about changing that mentality at halftime and not being the victim, and they did. They wanted it more than the other team and they were resilient and got the goal; I thought we about had another one five minutes later too,” Byrne said.
The following 63 minutes went scoreless before the first overtime where Bolger had identical shots on goal from the right in the 85th and 88th minutes. Wright had a header on goal in the second overtime, whereas the Lady Eagles had five shots in the 30 minutes of overtime.
In PKs, Park Hill South had four of its five attempts on goal with Reuscher, Sarah Listrom and Wright having good looks to the left being stopped by the goalkeeper. Lauren Dittmer’s shot hit the upright and bounced out and Pittman delivered on the second Lady Panther attempt, high to the right.
“I thought all of our takes were good hits, but their keeper made good saves. That’s just how it happens,” Byrne said.
The Lady Panthers’ loaded senior class of 10 has been a crucial part of three district championship appearances since 2021 and has left quite the legacy. The team will look different in 2025, hoping to avenge this postseason loss.