Park Hill’s Caden Duarte claps in celebratory fashion after he scored the first goal of the Class 4 District 8 game on an assist by Jack Unsell against Staley on Oct. 28.
PARKVILLE – A downpour of rain temporarily postponed the Park Hill boys’ soccer team’s (11-7) opening game of the Class 4 District 8 Tournament but that didn’t keep the Trojans from pulling out a victory.
Entering the district as the No. 2 seed, Park Hill matched up with Staley (3-16) on Oct. 28. The Trojans struck first and then the Falcons immediately responded but at the end of the day, the No. 2 seed won 4-1.
Park Hill came out of the gate firing, starting with a shot by Ethan Howell in the opening minute that went just right of the goal. Within two minutes later, Caden Duarte took a pass inside the box from Jack Unsell and found the back of the net.
Staley ended up with a free kick not too long after that and Kaden Kiernan put back the miss to tie the game with 36:13 on the first-half clock. Although it looked like there might be an upset, Park Hill closed the game out with three unanswered goals.
The Trojans had back-to-back corner kicks in the seventh minute that didn’t turn into a score. Luka Andonovski set up another corner kick with a shot on goal that was deflected out-of-bounds.
Thomas Sweet jumped up and headbutted the ball through the net on the corner kick to put Park Hill up 2-1 and the No. 2 seed never looked back. Andonovski and Aiden Romsland put the game away with a pair of goals.
Park Hill advanced to the district semifinals to take on Liberty North on Oct. 31. Before taking on the No. 3 seed, the Trojans had won four straight against the Eagles but the postseason meeting was the first matchup since 2021.