Trojans finish 3rd in State after historic run

No matter what the outcome would be this past weekend at the state finals in St. Louis, the Park Hill Soccer team knew they would be concluding their exciting run. The only thing left to be determined would be the title on the trophy they would bring home. As noted over recent weeks, the Trojans haven’t been to a final four since 1993 when they finished second. An enthusiasm not quite seen since that time has begun to surround the program of late, including support from both young and old alumni, former players, parents, teachers, and community members. All witnessed the Trojan’s journey in becoming the only Kansas City high school soccer team, other than Rockhurst, to reach the state finals since 1996.

The goal of returning with a state championship would prove to be a daunting task as they went up against Saint Louis University High, a private school with a proven soccer history, in the semi-final round. In typical Trojan fashion, they fell behind early when SLUH’s Dominic Hewitt scored on a corner kick at the 15 minute mark. Other than the early score, the Trojans were able to control the ball most of the first half and seemed to be right where they wanted to be with some of the early opportunities they were seeing on the offensive end. But unlike their ability to come back strong all season, the Trojans were never able to answer. SLUH came out firing in the second half with two quick goals in a three minute span which dampened any hope of a Trojan resurgence. A fourth goal was scored with under four minutes to play to end the Trojans’ title hopes with a 4-0 defeat.

After the disappointing lost on Friday night, the Trojans didn’t have too much time to sulk. A matchup with Columbia Hickman to determine the third place finisher would take place on Saturday. The physical and emotion play the Trojans had displayed all year was definitely on display in their season finale as Park Hill’s Austin Melott was ejected from the game late in the first half which disadvantaged the Trojans to playing a man down. The ejection must have sparked a second half surge, the Trojans were able to match the Kewpie’s first half goal from Brian Wilcox with one of their own early in the second half when Neal Sampson tied it up.

Although the Trojans controlled the ball twice as long as Hickman, they couldn’t take advantage of some of the shots they had deep on the Hickman side of the field. After being on the defensive end very little during the game, the Kewpies were able to provide a scare in the final seconds, but goalkeeper Shane VanHooser was able to come up with the save. Unfortunately, overtime was not played in the third place game, which resulted in a 1-1 final as both teams finished in the record books as tied for 3rd place.

For Park Hill, an extraordinary season ends, but with it comes high expectations for next year as they return a good amount of their starters and most likely the hunger for another shot at a state title.