Lee’s Summit to face Chaminade in Missouri Class 4 soccer final
All season long, the Lee’s Summit soccer team has thrived on the creativity of forward Aaron LaPaz. When the Tigers get him the ball in the box, they know they can count on him to find the net.
LaPaz displayed that creativity Friday, and it resulted in two goals and a 2-1 victory over Francis Howell Central in the semifinals of the Class 4 state soccer tournament at Blue Springs South.
Lee’s Summit, 20-3, will meet Chaminade at 3 p.m. Saturday in the championship at Blue Springs. It marks Lee’s Summit’s first appearance in a state soccer championship game.
And the Tigers got to watch LaPaz create the goals that got them there.
“They always tell me in the box, ‘Don’t even think about putting it down,’ ” LaPaz said. “Last touch, every single time in the box. I got two opportunities, and I put them both away.”
That first opportunity came in the 21st minute during a flurry of Tiger activity around the goal. Dalton Souder got the ball in the middle of the box, and lofted it to LaPaz, who charged the net and punched it in.
LaPaz was even more creative in the 51st minute, when midfielder Chad Hawkins made a nifty move around a defender in the right corner of the box and took a shot. Francis Howell Central’s goalie dropped the ball, and LaPaz was there to score his team-leading 24th goal of the season.
“He stepped up,” Lee’s Summit coach Dave Wiebenga said. “He’s done that all year. He has found a way to score goals all year, and he scored two great goals tonight.”
Lee’s Summit also thrives with its defense, and the Tigers kept Francis Howell Central out of the net until the 65th minute. Goalkeeper Roman Pena, who has 10 shutouts this season, made five saves, three of which came after the Spartans turned up the pressure in the second half.
“We knew they were going to fight,” Wiebenga said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”
Chaminade 4, Rockhurst 0
Rockhurst coach Chris Lawson didn’t try to put a positive spin on what happened to his team Friday in Class 4.
Chaminade was just that much better.
“Clearly the better team,” Lawson said after his Hawklets took a 4-0 beating in the other Class 4 semifinal. “They were all over us offensively, defensively, they beat us to every 50-50 ball.”
That pretty much sums it up.
Rockhurst, 21-7, actually beat Chaminade, 25-2-1, last month, but the Hawklets were helpless against the Red Devils in the rematch. Chaminade had 12 shots on goal to the Hawklets’ three. All three of Rockhurst’s shots came in the second half.
“We didn’t have many good chances, we weren’t able to execute, but that mainly was because the way they played,” Lawson said. “We knew going into the final four you’d get three or four good chances a game. I think our kids thought they’d get an extra touch, have some extra time, but that didn’t happen.”
Chaminade took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute with a quick shot from the left side of the box by Kenneth Massa, who scored his 20th goal of the season. The Red Devils made it 2-0 when Jacob Pesek knocked one in on a long assist from a free kick by Anthony Aegerter with 15 minutes left in the first half.
Chaminade struck twice more in the second half — on an own goal off another long free kick into the box in the 51st minute and a pop-in shot by Dominic Vella in the 58th.
Rockhurst, meanwhile, didn’t get a really good look at the goal until Jack Saladino charged in front of the net and blasted one to the Chaminade goalie with about 15 minutes to play.
“They wanted it more,” Lawson said. “Our kids never gave in, but we were beat by the better team, clearly.”
Rockhurst will play Francis Howell Central for third place at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Lee’s Summit to face Chaminade in Missouri Class 4 soccer final."