Quick deficit hampers Grain Valley in boys soccer state semifinal loss
Grain Valley High School boys soccer coach Tyler Nichol was concerned about how his team would react to its first appearance in the Missouri Class 3 state tournament semifinals.
The Eagles, who have only had a program since 2008, won their first district tournament this season and followed with wins over Belton in the sectional round and Smithville in the quarterfinals.
Grain Valley was matched up Friday in the semifinals against St. Dominic, which is one of the most storied programs in Missouri. It was the 24th state tournament experience for the Crusaders, who won state titles in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013.
It was obvious from the start that St. Dominic was the more comfortable and confident team. The Crusaders snapped Grain Valley’s five-match shutout streak less than three minutes into the game and had a 2-0 lead 15 minutes into the contest.
“St. Dominic is a good team, but we showed our inexperience and made some mistakes early in the game, which resulted in two goals,” Nichol said. “It just makes a huge difference when you fall behind a team as good as St. Dominic so early.”
St. Dominic added a pair of second-half goals and won the match, 4-0, at the World Wide Technology Soccer Park.
“I know I was nervous coming into the game,” Grain Valley goalkeeper R.C. Jones said. “There was a bit of an awe factor, and they surprised us and took us out of our game early on.”
A nervous error by Jones helped St. Dominic to the lead just 145 seconds into the game. Jones made an initial save but was off-balance. He dropped the ball in front of the net, and Jack Stoll was there to tap it in for his 29th goal of the season.
“I was coming to catch it, and the wind moved it,” Jones said. “I was falling into the goal, and my first instinct was to just drop it.”
William Faherty would score on a penalty kick at the 15:10 mark, and St. Dominic was in control with a 2-0 lead.
Faherty added another goal and an assist on a goal by Collin Chrun in the second half for St. Dominic.
Grain Valley had a few good scoring chances. The best might have come in the game’s first five minutes, as Noah Espinosa made a nice run and centered the ball. But there were no Grain Valley players around to put it into a wide open net.
One of the highlights for Grain Valley was a diving save by Jones on a penalty kick by Stoll in the second half.
“We practice PK’s after every practice,” Jones said. “I happened to get this one.”
Grain Valley, which had won 14 of its last 15 games, including 12 shutouts during the stretch, fell to 20-7 for the season. The Eagles look to finish on a positive note, as they play Jefferson City Helias in the third-place match at 10 a.m. Saturday.
This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Quick deficit hampers Grain Valley in boys soccer state semifinal loss."