Rockhurst defeats Rock Bridge 2-0, moves into Missouri Class 4 soccer state final

The ball moved in front of Rockhurst senior Gianni Catenacci’s right foot. He glanced up to the goal, which sat 20 yards in front of him, and spotted a clear shooting path.

One problem: Catenacci is a natural lefty. So with little time to adapt, he got creative. He crossed his dominant left foot over his body and used it to toe poke the ball toward the target. A split-second later, it splashed the roof of the net.

The unique maneuver provided a worthy highlight for a significant victory.

Rockhurst defeated Rock Bridge 2-0 in the Missouri Class 4 state semifinals Friday at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. In search of their seventh state soccer championship, the Hawklets, 26-4, will play at noon Saturday.

Back to that Catenacci goal ...

“I didn’t want to strike it with my right foot, so I just tried to dip it into the top corner,” Catenacci said. “I was really just trying to get it on target and see what would happen.”

The flashy shot departed from a game plan Rockhurst implemented to slow the pace of the match. Against an athletic Rock Bridge team, Rockhurst successfully executed a possession-oriented style.

The defense aided the plan, keeping Rock Bridge out of the penalty area for the majority of the match. Nick Moyer made five saves for the shutout.

The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half before Frank Barry broke it with a rebound goal only 51 seconds after halftime. Catenacci added his goal 15 minutes later.

“We’ve talked a lot about urgency this year, and so that’s what we talked about at halftime,” Hawklets coach Chris Lawson said. “We wanted to come out and get a good service in the first two minutes to get the first goal. We got it in 50 seconds instead.”

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Rockhurst defeats Rock Bridge 2-0, moves into Missouri Class 4 soccer state final."