PLATTE CITY – Deciding to partake in the early season Platte County Girls’ Soccer Invitational worked out well for Park Hill South (4-0), which walked away with a first-place finish.
Park Hill South senior Olivia Clemons scored the first seven goals of the season for the Lady Panthers, leading them to a 4-0 start.
Counting the 2-0 season opener win over Lee’s Summit West (1-2) on March 15, Park Hill South senior Olivia Clemons scored the first seven goals of the season. She had two goals in the first game of the spring and added a hat-trick in the opening contest of the tournament.
Being the No. 2 seed, Park Hill South’s closest game was in the first round – a 3-2 win over Raymore-Peculiar (1-2) on March 16. Lily DiBernardo, Lilly Reuscher and Mackenzie Wright had assists on the night to put another tally in the win column.
“We knew that we had a talented group coming in, so the expectations were high,” Park Hill South head girls’ soccer coach Jared Byrne said. “As far as the preseason goes, I felt like we were kind of behind in our number of training sessions and stuff, so I knew we’d still have talented players and we’d be good, but I didn’t really expect us to be at this level so quick.”
Park Hill South met up with St. Pius X (2-1) in the next round, winning 4-0 on March 18. The Lady Panthers outshot the Lady Warriors 23 to seven en route to the one-sided victory.
“We have a lot of pace on the team with a lot of girls that are just extremely fast and they can put pressure on the other team. (St.) Pius is a very good team, and they have a lot of good players as well, but I think we were just able to put them under pressure, and our girls are doing a good job of having that composure when they get the ball to keep it,” Byrne said.
Clemons nearly had another hat-trick in the first half alone, having a pair of goals from the right side in the seventh and 33rd minutes, along with another shot on goal before the half ended. Sarah Listrom became the first Lady Panther other than Clemons to score a goal when the sophomore connected on a 28-yard free kick in the opening four minutes of the second half.
“Clemons made that run on that free kick that kind of messed with the (goal) keeper a little bit; I’m sure that was in her head. We have a lot of talent on the team so just putting it together makes us excited,” Byrne said.
Wright earned her second assist of the night when junior Gabrielle Weith found the back of the net. With the 4-0 triumph, Park Hill South moved onto the championship to take on Liberty (3-1) on March 20.
“We’ve been very impressed with how we’ve been playing but we tell them we’re not satisfied with being a good team, we want to be a great team,” Byrne said.
Before the championship, each of the last five matchups between the Lady Panthers and Lady Blue Jays were decided by one goal – which includes the last two postseasons – all of which are since 2022. Both teams are in the Kansas City Suburban Conference Silver Division and will compete in the Class 4 District 8 Tournament when the regular season ends so they will play at least two more times.
“We want to win but high school soccer is different because you don’t have to qualify for the playoffs; everyone makes the playoffs. I know it’s coach speak, but we are trying to get better throughout the season so we look at it as an opportunity to see a conference opponent and a district opponent early on in the season,” Byrne said ahead of the championship matchup with Liberty.
Park Hill South scored four goals on 13 shots and only allowed one as Clemons led the way with one goal and an assist. Wright, DiBernardo and Grace Leak all had unassisted goals for their first scores of the season.