Final four notebook: Injured Brune's insight on Barstow leading scorer leads to Saxony Lutheran's 16th shutout

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. -- Since her junior season ended with a torn MCL during the Saxony Lutheran soccer team's sixth game of the season, midfielder Maddie Brune has continued to provide tidbits of help for her team -- whether it be strategy for on the field or words of encouragement.

Friday's state semifinal game against Barstow was no exception.

Saxony coach Garrett Fritsche didn't know anything about the Knights until about 40 minutes before the start of his team's noon game at Blue Springs High School, and that was only names and stats from a program.

He informed his players that Barstow's go-to player was junior forward Bailey Childers, who wore No. 22.

"I literally was sitting in the center of the field and I looked over there because we talked that 22 is their main scorer and I looked over and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I've played against her. I know who that is,' and so I went to Garrett and told him everything that I knew about her," Brune said.

Brune, who plays on a St. Louis Scott Gallagher club team, had played against Childers twice in the fall. Childers' select team KC Sporting plays in the same conference as Brune's.

Brune, a center back for her select team, marked Childers in both games in the fall, and she made sure that her teammates knew her tendencies.

"She's a lot faster than you'd think she'd be and she turns right every single time and dribbles straight down the side and can shoot from anywhere," Brune said she told her teammates. "She's a fantastic shooter."

Childers had scored 31 goals and had 11 assists to lead the Knights to the state semifinals.

Saxony Lutheran players stand for the national anthem before their Class 1 semifinal game against Barstow Friday, June 5, 2015, at Blue Springs High School near Kansas City. (Kit Doyle)

She stands at 5 feet, 8 inches tall, which is more than three inches taller than three of the four Saxony starting defenders, and used her strength to shield the ball from the Crusaders defenders, but she only put one shot on goal that was right at keeper Raegan Wieser in the first half.

"That was a team effort," Fritsche said. "That girl's good. I've got to give her credit for what she did for that team, but team effort. They knew it, too. At halftime the team came off and the defense talked to each other. They said, 'We've just got to talk more. We've got to talk and make sure she's always got someone marking her, if not two to make sure she does not do anything.'"

Childers had three of the Knights' four shots as the Crusaders recorded their 16th shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory.

"Amazing. Our defense was perfection today," Brune said. "They did absolutely outstanding. That's why we won this game was our defense."

Adapting to the stage

Saxony Lutheran junior Heather Wills (2) connects with a header during the first half of the Class 1 semifinal game against Barstow Friday, June 5, 2015, at Blue Springs High School near Kansas City. Saxony won 3-0. (Kit Doyle)

Several juniors on the Saxony soccer team had already competed in a state final four for basketball as sophomores when they stepped onto the Blue Springs High School field for the semifinal.

A pep talk from their assistant coach, Chris Crawford, before kickoff didn't hurt to help calm any jitters, though.

"Our assistant coach, Coach Crawford, made sure to tell us right before the game, 'This isn't any different than any other game. This is just another game. You've played 24 other games. Treat it like that and you girls will be fine,'" and that's exactly what we did," junior midfielder Brianna Mueller said. "We played how we know how and they said we played one of our best games of the season, and I think we believe that, too."

The Crusaders, who have a roster that consists of 11 juniors and seven freshmen, were able to substitute every available player in their 3-0 defeat of the Knights.

"I think it was excited nerves," Mueller said. "But we have a bunch of freshman on the team who get a lot of playing time and we were talking to them and they were all nervous and everything and we were trying to calm them down. I think they did amazing and pulled through and turned those nerves into energy and excitement."

Saxony, which had practiced some on Central's artificial turf field leading up to the state tournament, didn't need much adjustment to the speed of the field and how it played, which allowed them to control possession of the ball with ease from the get-go, but it did take some time for the Crusaders to get used to the width of the field.

"It was a little hard because it was a lot bigger than the ones we're used to but other than that it was easier to go wide," freshman defender Ashley Fritsche said.

Coach Garrett Fritsche joked that the biggest adjustment his team needed to make before the championship game Saturday would be to the heat after a week of moderate weather in Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

The Crusaders used that to their advantage and tried to wear down the Knights, who only had one substitute on their bench.

"With a team like that -- they're very talented -- but when you have no subs, you're going to get tired," Mueller said. "We had to run them, keep possession of the ball, keep doing give and go's -- just wear them out. Contain the ball and they're going to get tired and wear down, and I think that's ultimately how we ended up beating them was they just got tired."

Coming up

In the midst of the Saxony soccer team's 18-game winning streak is a 2-1 victory against Father Tolton on April 17 in the Spartan Invitational.

The Crusaders will try to top the Trailblazers a second time in the state championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday.

"I really can't complain about anything," Fritsche said before knowing the championship opponent. "There's a few minor tweaks that we'll look at, but like I said, that's the best they've played. It's like all season we've been telling them over and over again what to do and they just put it together."

Father Tolton defeated Trinity Catholic 3-1 in a semifinal Friday afternoon to reach the title game.

The Trailblazers (20-6) trailed 1-0 20 minutes into the game but tied it up five minutes later on a goal by Heidi Gundy. Emma Johnson scored twice in the second half for the win.

"You've just got to go into the game like it's any other game," Mueller said. "Even though the stakes are higher you've got to put that in the back of your head and just play for the girls around you and play for your coaches and play for yourself, and if you come out on top then that's that but if you don't you have these memories that'll last you a lifetime."