Longtime teammates combine for both St. Pius X goals in 2-1 victory in third-place match

The combination of St. Pius X High School girls soccer senior forwards Allison Malott and Sydney Routh proved formidable on Thursday.

Malott served up two perfect passes, and Routh executed two impressive finishes as the Warriors topped Notre Dame of St. Louis 2-1 in the third-place match of the Missouri Class 2 state tournament, held at Swope Soccer Village.

“Sydney and I have been playing together for four years now. We play on the same club team, and we know how each other works,” Malott said. “It’s fun to play with her. I know where she wants the ball. It was just kind of luck of the path that she would get to it and score.”

It’s debatable whether luck was involved, but there’s no question the scoring plays exhibited the two seniors’ skills. Malott’s passes soared more than 25 yards. On both passes, Routh ran on to the ball, took a touch and fired a shot past the Notre Dame goalie.

“That’s what I do. I’m a forward. My job is to score,” Routh said. “Allison gave me some great passes. We have a good connection and a lot of fun.”

The two Pius goals came less than eight minutes apart midway through the first half — an opening 40 minutes where Pius showed its superiority.

Lexi Lanzafame scored on a great run in the second half for Notre Dame, but the Rebels were never seriously a threat to tie the match.

St. Pius X finished its season 20-4.

“We knew coming into this game we didn’t want to lose,” Malott said. “We wanted to end our high school careers on a win. It’s always good to do that.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Longtime teammates combine for both St. Pius X goals in 2-1 victory in third-place match."