Park Hill Soccer is Final Four bound

To the tune of the Black Eyed Peas song “I Got a Feeling,” the public address announcer stated in a dramatic fashion at halftime, “One of these teams will be advancing to the state semifinals next weekend.” At the time, it was a 1-1 tie between Park Hill (25-5) and Lee’s Summit North (17-6-1) in a state quarterfinal game, but in the end it would the Park Hill Trojans finishing the lyrics with “tonight’s gonna be a good night” as they advanced with a 4-1 victory.

This sets up a final four, state semi-final meeting against Saint Louis University High (SLUH) in St. Louis this weekend. The semi-final game will be held Friday evening at 7 p.m. at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton, MO, just outside St. Louis. A school with a strong soccer tradition, SLUH is 20-6-1 on the season coming off a victory against McCluer North in a 3-1 score. The winner will matchup against the winner of the Columbia Hickman and Christian Brothers College game in the championship game at 6 p.m. on Saturday preceded by the third place game at 1 p.m.
As was printed last week, the Park Hill Trojans were preparing for a sectional matchup with Winnetonka where they went on to win 2-0 with goals from Sam Shepherd and Neal Sampson. A likely game against Rockhurst was never realized though, as Lee’s Summit North upset the defending state-champions, 2-1 after penalty kicks in overtime. This set the Trojans up for their first opportunity to advance to the state semi-finals since 1993.

A physically tough and emotionally driven Park Hill team fell behind early when Lee’s Summit North’s Michael Oakley scored with just under thirty minutes to play in the first half putting LSN up 1-0. But the toughness they’ve displayed all season wasn’t dampened, as five minutes later David Zdvoark scored on a breakaway to tie the score at 1-1.

“I think our first goal was the biggest one, to know we were still in the game because it could have allowed doubt to creep in,” coach Dustin Sollars said.
The Trojans were able to control the ball steadily a majority of the game, but a few LSN breakaways caused some scares throughout the game. A tenacious defense turned many of those stops into offensive opportunities and those were exploited in the second half. An Austin Melott goal at the 32 minute mark gave the Trojans momentum and a lead they wouldn’t lose. Goals from Ray Lee and Zdvorak in a two minute span late in the second half capped off the victory for the Trojans, sending them to St. Louis to compete not only with the other three schools in the final four, but with themselves and history.

Park Hill is now one victory away from matching the best finish in school history, a 2nd place finish in 1993.

“It’s a big deal for us,” Sollars said. “Especially when they look at the guys from ’93 coming to speak about it at practice and wishing they could still be out there.”

“Anytime you’re trying to match up with history, it gives them a little something extra to play for,” Sollars added. “A spot in history, a spot in the books.”

“This is a special team with a good mix of talented players that want to play for each other,” Sollars said of their intangible traits. “You can’t teach emotion and physicality.”