Saxony Lutheran falters in boys soccer district title game

MANCHESTER, Mo. -- While the championship pairing in the Class 1 District 1 soccer tournament Friday night was a bit confusing, it did guarantee one outcome: An upset.

Top-seeded Saxony Lutheran entered the contest with credentials that included defending district champion and the No. 5 ranking in the state.

The second-seeded challenger and district host, John F. Kennedy Catholic High School, came in with an interesting notation on its resume -- the Celts entered as the No. 1 ranked team in the state.

The guaranteed upset came to fruition as the district's No. 2 seed struck for the game's lone goal in the opening seven minutes and ended Saxony Lutheran's season with a 1-0 victory.

"I have no idea how that happened," Saxony Lutheran coach Ryan Schweain said of the seeding. "I really don't. If I had been in the seed meeting, I would have had Kennedy first.

"I'm not sure why we were the No. 1 seed, and some other coaches in the district didn't know why we were the No. 1 seed. I'm not sure what happened there. Maybe that's the way they wanted it. I know the last four years the No. 1 seed hasn't won it."

The upset tradition held, but Kennedy coach Tom Rapp thought the seeding was just as it should have been.

"At the time of the seed meeting they deserved to be the No. 1 seed," Rapp said. "We went on a pretty good roll there at the end of the season and beat No. 1, so we deserved to be No. 1 when those rankings came out."

Kennedy (18-8-1) won three of its last four games, including a 2-0 victory over then-No. 1 Trinity. The lone loss during that run was a 2-1 setback against St. Dominic, ranked No. 1 in Class 2.

"There were four teams in our district that could of won," Rapp said. "It was a hell of a district."

The four teams in the district semifinals included No. 7 St. Pius-Festus and No. 9 Bayless.

Kennedy sneaked past St. Pius 1-0, while Saxony (18-5) defeated Bayless 2-1 in overtime.

"It just shows the strength of the district," Rapp said. "I think whoever emerges, Kennedy has as good a shot as anybody from this point on."

In avenging a loss to Saxony in last year's title game, the Celts set the tone early.

Kennedy scored on its first shot as Blake Ficken deposited a cross pass from Jorge Ramos just 6 minutes, 26 seconds into the game.

"We wanted to come out hard and get a goal in the first five minutes, and we did," Ficken said.

Phillip Luedecke, a quick and skilled senior midfielder who leads the Celts with 26 goals and 13 assists, started the play when he maneuvered above the top of the box and sent a pass wide and deep for Ramos on the right side. Ramos then sent the ball along the end line into the box.

The ball came all the way across the mouth of the goal as one Celtic missed it before it found Ficken.

"Dan McCune, one of our forwards, missed it, and I just came to the far post unmarked and open goal and hit it in," Ficken said.

Schweain had seen Kennedy play earlier during the district tournament.

"We knew they push guys on the weak side too," Schweain said. "They snuck in behind us. We knew they did that, but they just caught us sleeping a little bit."

The early goal was a bit stunning, especially on Kennedy's first shot.

"They just came out more intense," Saxony senior defender Trevor Mabuce said. "In the beginning they just wanted it more. It felt like after they got that goal [it hit us] that this is real, and we just need to start playing. And I think we did that after they scored, and for the rest of the game."

Kennedy did control much of the action in the first half even though it was playing into a strong headwind.

The Celts held a 6-2 shooting edge in the half and had the lone corner kick.

Saxony's best scoring chance came when Taylor Johnson sent a bouncing pass to Brent Rodewald in the box in the 22nd minute, but Kennedy goalkeeper Ryan Schweppe came out on the play and made a sliding stop as Rodewald tried to direct it toward the goal.

Saxony managed two shots on goal in the second half, but both came on free kicks from well outside the box and were handled easily by Schweppe.

"Our ball movement wasn't where it was earlier this year," Schweain said. "We struggled. And obviously the conditions of the field didn't help us any, too."

The Celts' field, which doubles as the school's football field, was short on grass and rather bumpy. Both sides struggled to control bouncing passes in the wind.

"We were just rushing it too much," Rodewald said. "We just needed to slow it down."

The Crusaders also were not helped by the loss of defenseman Shawn Hadler 12 minutes into the game. Hadler injured his right ankle on a play along the sideline and had to be carried off the field by his teammates. He left for X-rays during the second half.

"He's a back that pushes up and creates some offense," Schweain said. "That hurt us."

Five Saxony seniors played their final game, marking the departure of the first four-year players in the four-year history of the program.

"We've got some strong underclassmen, but we're definitely going to miss the seniors," Schweain said. "They were freshmen when I came in. I'm going to miss this group of seniors. They're the first group I've actually watched all four years. This last game is a little tough to swallow."