Rockhurst defends boys soccer championship; East Bears, Summit Christian come up short
The Rockhurst Hawklets’ postgame tweet said it all: They’re bringing a championship back to Kansas City.
Well, nearly all: This makes it two straight years that the program from Rockhurst has claimed the state’s most coveted soccer hardware.
Rockhurst stood tall in the final Missouri boys high school soccer match of the year for all classifications, beating Christian Brothers College 1-0 for the MSHSAA Class 4 state championship at the World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton Saturday night
The Hawklets (21-2-2) got the only goal they needed with 8 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the match. Rockhurst drew a penalty in the box, and junior Baka Kante hammered home the resulting penalty kick.
In other state-finals action Saturday:
Members of the East High School Bears boys soccer team gave it all they had in Saturday’s Class 3 state championship match at the World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton.
But winning the school’s first state championship in any sport since a basketball title claimed in 1929 was not to be: Webster Groves beat the Bears 3-2 in penalty kicks.
East finished as the state runner-up with a record of 20-3-1.
Bears sophomore Jackson Twizerimana opened the scoring in the 26th minute, recording his 31st strike of the season/postseason. It was 1-0 at halftime, but Webster Groves equalized with a goal from Jonas Oesterlei in the 53rd minute and then went ahead on a late-game penalty kick taken by Statesmen senior Oliver Doyle.
The Bears were not done yet: Twizerimana netted his 32nd goal of the year on a breakaway in the 76th minute and it was 2-2, which is how things stayed through overtime to bring on the penalty-kick scenario.
In the Class 1 finale, Summit Christian Academy likewise held strong for the majority of the game. But with just 2:10 left against St. Francis Borgia (15-9), the Eagles conceded a decisive goal to the Knights’ Adam Rickman.
The result was a 1-0 loss for Summit Christian (18-7). The Lee’s Summit team finished as Missouri’s runner-up for Class 1.
The Class 1 and 3 state finals were the first of four taking place Saturday afternoon in Fenton. Also being played Saturday were the four Missouri classifications’ third-place games.
In the game for third place in Class 2, Excelsior Springs beat Saxony Lutheran 3-2.
SCOREBOARD:
CLASS 4
Friday semifinals
Christian Bros. College 1, St. Dominic 0
Rockhurst 3, Columbia Rock Bridge 2
Saturday’s championship
Rockhurst 1, vs. Christian Bros. College 0
Third-place game
Rock Bridge 2, St. Dominic 0
CLASS 3
Friday semifinals
Webster Groves 1, Whitfield 0
East (KC) 2, Springfield Glendale 0
Saturday’s championship
Webster Groves 3, East (KC) 2, PKs
Third-place game
Whitfield 2, Springfield Glendale 1, PKs
CLASS 2
Friday semifinals
Orchard Farm 2, Saxony Lutheran 0
Marshall 3, Excelsior Springs 1
Saturday’s championship
Marshall 2, Orchard Farm 1, PKs
Third-place game
Excelsior Springs 3, Saxony Lutheran 2
CLASS 1
Friday semifinals
St. Francis Borgia 2, Bishop DuBourg 1
Summit Christian 3, New Covenant 1
Saturday’s championship
St. Francis Borgia 1, Summit Christian 0
Third-place game
New Covenant 1, Bishop DuBourg 0
This story was originally published November 19, 2022 at 1:03 PM.