Park Hill’s Tanner Poirier helped his team win all three games in the Park Hill Soccer Classic.
KANSAS CITY – It was a relatively opposite start to the season for Park Hill (3-0) and Platte County (1-2) who ended up on different sides of the bracket in the Park Hill Boys’ Soccer Classic to kick off the fall.
Park Hill went on to win its home tournament, while Platte County fell in its opening two games before taking seventh place. The tournament started on Aug. 28 and concluded on Aug. 31.
Park Hill started the season strong, taking down Lincoln Prep (0-3) in the first round. Tanner Poirier scored both goals in the Trojans’ 2-0 win.
Park Hill went on to match up with Kansas City East (2-1) in the semifinals on Aug. 29. It was a tale of two halves for the Trojans who were shut out in the opening 40 minutes before pulling out a 2-1 triumph.
Park Hill had two shot attempts early in the opening four minutes by Teegan Turner and Daiggen Gaar but only had two more shots before the break. Caden Duarte had a shot on goal in the 11th minute and Luka Andonovski kicked the ball over the goal with right under nine minutes left in the half.
East scored on a fast break with 20:24 on the clock in the first half. Park Hill put two more goals on the board in the second half to advance to the championship where the Trojans beat Blue Springs South (2-1) 3-0.
Platte County had a rough start to the fall, losing to Blue Springs South and Raymore-Peculiar (2-1). The Pirates were tied at halftime to the Jaguars before letting up a second half goal and getting bumped to the losing side of the bracket.
The Panthers beat the Pirates 2-1, which sent Platte County to the seventh-place game. Lincoln College Prep was the other team who lost its first two games and was in said contest.
The Tigers struck first, scoring at the 34-minute mark before Gavin Nichols tied the game up with a first half goal. Josh Nelson came to the rescue with a game-winning goal in the second half.
Park Hill will look to build off its strong start when it has its first true home game versus Oak Park (0-1) on Sept. 7. Platte County will take on Raytown (1-0) on the road on Sept. 6.