Trojans run into playoff roadblock

After battling through district play and eventually coming out on top as district champions despite being an underdog, the Park Hill boys soccer team fought rainy and windy conditions last week to hold on for a 1-0 victory over Liberty in the state sectionals. The win set the Trojans up for a quarterfinal matchup Saturday against Lee’s Summit West, a team they had split their conference season series with 1-1 and fell runner-up to in the final league standings. Both meetings between the Trojans and Titans this season were one-sided games for the victor, but their quarterfinal matchup would end up resembling parts of both.

“The first two games were really lopsided. They dominated us and were clearly the better team, then we really dominated them when we played here. So tonight was really a good combination of those two,” Park Hill coach Dustin Sollars said.

A trip to the Final Four at stake, the game was a naturally physical contest with the stands full at the Park Hill District Athletic Complex. While the Trojans held the time of possession through a good part of the game, a Lee’s Summit West shot from Alex Brown snuck through the grasp of Park Hill goalkeeper Mason Fannin with ten minutes left in the first half to put the Titans up 1-0 before halftime. Park Hill would again be on the offensive side in the second half, but despite a barrage of shots and opportunities, the Trojans could not convert. Two offsides penalties in the final minutes took away Park Hill scoring opportunities, one of which negated a goal.

“We were just pounding them with shots at the end and they just kept hanging out, but I mean they earned the right,” Sollars said.

In the end though their lone goal in the first half would be all the Titans would need to take a 1-0 victory and advance to St. Louis next weekend, ending the Trojans’ unlikely end of season run. Even with the disappointing loss, Park Hill’s presence as one of the lone teams still playing in the metro area is a testament to their success and an accomplishment few thought would occur back when the season started in August after losing a large part of last year’s quarterfinalist team.

“A lot of people thought we weren’t supposed to be good, no one thought we’d be here,” Sollars said. “We were supposed to be sub .500, but we were a late goal away from a conference championship, we won districts, advanced past sectionals. They accomplished everything last year’s phenomenal team accomplished. They represented themselves and their school well."