Notre Dame de Sion and St. Teresa’s both advance to Missouri girls state tournament

Anna Romano found it hard to describe the golden goal that sent Notre Dame de Sion back to state. She had the best vantage point, of course, since she was the one who made the shot.

It’s just that from Romano’s perspective, it all happened in a blur.

“I barely saw it go in, honestly,” Romano said after Sion beat Smithville 3-2 in double overtime in a Missouri Class 3 quarterfinal Saturday at Rockhurst High School. “I was screaming for the pass, and I knew there were only a couple of minutes left.”

Romano screamed at Laney Ulowetz for that pass, and Ulowetz found her all alone in upper left corner of the 18-yard box. Romano fired and landed the ball in the upper corner of the net with just over five minutes left in the second overtime.

“I just shot it as hard as I could,” said Romano, a senior midfielder. “I didn’t even try to place it, but it ended up going in.”

Romano’s goal ended a very tight contest that grew more physical as it progressed. Romano opened the scoring when she weaved through traffic and found the net five minutes into the game, and Smithville tied it less than a minute later when Trace Mosby banged in a ball from Kelsey Mothershead.

Madeline Hollenbeck put Sion up 2-1 with a blast from the top of the box in the first minute of the second half. The Storm maintained that lead until Smithville’s Kyli Nelson curled a free kick into the box and Mothershead ping-ponged it in with 6 minutes left.

It would take another 15 minutes and then some before Romano would send Sion, 18-4, to state for the first time since ending a five-year run of appearances in 2011.

“In our talk before overtime, I said it’s going to take somebody doing something special,” Sion coach Matt Darby said. “It’s pretty nice to have a senior captain who’s going of to play next year in college get a goal like that.”

St. Teresa’s Academy 2, Park Hill 0

After struggling against Park Hill’s packed-in defense in the first half, host St. Teresa’s broke through for two quick goals in the second half to win the Class 4 quarterfinal and earn a third-straight trip to state.

St. Teresa’s, 20-2-1, finally got on the board five minutes into the second half when Maddie Russell headed in a corner kick from Alyssa Seitzer. Less than a minute later, Grace Kitts banged in a high shot from just inside the box.

“We had an iffy first half,” St. Teresa’s coach Jeremy McElduff said. “Park Hill outworked us and played better most of that half. But in the second half we came back out strong.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2015 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Notre Dame de Sion and St. Teresa’s both advance to Missouri girls state tournament."