Rockhurst edges Park Hill South 1-0 in Class 4 soccer quarterfinal

Cole McLagan and his Rockhurst teammates spent most of this soccer season driven to atone for an abysmal showing in their last state tournament. The Hawklets entered as defending champions last year and exited with two losses by a combined score of 6-0.

Thanks to McLagan, Rockhurst will get a chance to make good and add to its long line of state titles. His breakaway goal in the opening minutes of the second half, backed by a stellar defense, gave the Hawklets a 1-0 victory over Park Hill South in a Class 4 quarterfinal game Saturday at Rockhurst’s Dasta Memorial Stadium.

Rockhurst, 20-6-2, will meet Francis Howell, 18-7-1, at 6 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo.

“I didn’t have the final four I wanted to last year, and that’s been haunting me,” McLagan said. “I’ve been wanting to get back definitely and I’m ready to play.”

McLagan, a senior forward, broke the scoreless tie 3 minutes after halftime, when he took a well-placed pass from Ignacio Sainz de Aja in the 18-yard box on a counterattack and tucked the ball inside the far post. Sainz de Aja got the ball after Rockhurst won it in the backfield, something the Hawklets were able to do that frustrated Park Hill South most of the game.

“We knew the counter would be on,” Rockhurst coach Chris Lawson said. “Credit to our kids for finding that ball in the back and then finding Ignacio. He worked hard to get it to Cole.”

Park Hill South, 24-4, made Rockhurst work for its opportunities but found few of its own in the first half against the Hawklets’ defense. The Panthers created more chances in the second half, including a breakaway rush by Nylo Clarke that just went wide, but they couldn’t push a shot past Hawklets goalie Nicholas Moyer.

It appeared Rockhurst would ice the game in the final 2 minutes when McLagan tangled in the box with a Panthers defender. But the Hawklets didn’t get a penalty kick because the contact started outside the box, and the Panthers got another short-lived opportunity when they swatted away the restart.

Moments later, Rockhurst was celebrating after making it to state for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons. The Hawklets have won four titles in that span.

“Lucky for us our kids battled and our substitutes came in and did their job,” Lawson said. “We knew it was going to be a battle; it always is.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Rockhurst edges Park Hill South 1-0 in Class 4 soccer quarterfinal."