Johnson’s penalty kick helps Sikeston edge St. Puis X in overtime thriller

SIKESTON — Jaden Johnson’s ice-veins penalty kick in overtime sent the crowd into a frenzy and lifted Sikeston to a thrilling 4-3 victory over St. Puis X at Bill Lawson Memorial Field on Wednesday, October 25.

The Bulldogs (11-11-0) showed their true potential down the stretch, winning six of their final nine games and finishing the regular season with a three-game winning streak.

“That was a heavyweight fight of a game,” said Sikeston coach Gabe Dement. “We’re all feeling good about our 11th win and hitting .500, and we’ve got a lot of momentum going into the district tournament.”

Sikeston�s PJ Farmer (6) is fouled during a 4-3 overtime win over St. Puis X on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Sikeston was always able to stay one step ahead in a back-and-forth affair, taking a 1-0 lead when PJ Farmer scored on an assist by Carter Grimes with 21:36 left in the first half. The Lancers (7-12-1) tied it a short time later but the Bulldogs responded with a goal by Tristan Wiggins off an assist by Farmer to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.

“We created a ton of chances, and we forced their defense into making some big plays,” Dement said. “Our starting back four (Chris Artis, Mauricio Bautista, Levi Douglass and Rush Ault), as well as Conner Wicker and Jackson Couch, played absolutely lights out. I didn’t feel like any of the goals we conceded were the fault of our goalie or our back four. It was just a matter of clearing the ball in certain moments, which we’ll fix and do a lot better with on Saturday.”

After St. Puis X equalized at 2-2 early in the second half, Wiggins restored Sikeston’s lead with a goal on an assist by Mauricio Bautista with 27:46 remaining. However, the Lancers found a way to equalize again at 3-3 with about 20 minutes remaining in regulation. Neither team was able to score the remaining time of regulation.

Sikeston�s Jaden Johnson (6) celebrates after scoring the game-winning penalty kick in a 4-3 overtime win over St. Puis X on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

“Understanding the flow of the game, we opted to play directly and let our offense shine,” Dement said. “Our accurate passing in key moments put the opposition on their heels and they struggled to cope. St. Puis X fought valiantly, and the game could have gone either way on several occasions. However, the setup of the game meant that we didn’t need to be elaborate or make seven passes to score a goal. We simply needed to make a couple of passes and find the right through ball to connect.”

Sikeston goalkeeper Barrett Strokes made several clutch saves in overtime to finish the game with 10 total saves. The Bulldogs secured the victory after Farmer was fouled while attacking the goal with about three minutes remaining in the overtime period, and Jaden Johnson calmly converted the ensuing penalty kick.

“I’ve had complete confidence in Johnson since day one,” Dement said. “The first summer practice I saw him play, I knew he was going to be a key cog for this team. He’s calm, collected, and has a hunger for goals. I didn’t watch his penalty kick because I was too nervous, but I have 1000% trust in him to score.”

Sikeston celebrates after a 4-3 overtime win over St. Puis X at Bill Lawson Memorial Field on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Despite graduating nine seniors and replacing seven starters, Sikeston finished the season strong, with Dement attributing the team’s success to their resilience and ability to overcome adversity.

“We knew there were going to be some growing pains, and we saw that at the beginning of the season,” Dement said. “We saw that we could create chances, but we were unorganized and didn’t understand runs and where to be. Most importantly, all of these guys had never played a match together before. But we started to see those growing pains go away. Guys started to learn how to make runs, how to get open, and how to connect. That’s why we were able to finish the season as strong as we did.”

Sikeston received the No. 5 seed in the MSHSAA Class 3, District 1 Tournament and will face fourth-seeded Poplar Bluff (14-5-1) at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 28 at Hillsboro High School.

Sikeston also won 8-2 at Fredericktown (3-15-0) on Monday, October 23. The Bulldogs’ top performers were Wiggins (three goals and an assist), Farmer (three goals and two assists), Johnson (one goal), Christian Parker (one goal), Grimes (two assists) and Jeremiah Wade (an assist).

“As we have many times this season, we set the tone with an early goal and never looked back,” Dement said. “It was a team victory with everyone from the back line forward being involved in our possession and creation of chances. Our team has improved a lot since the start of the season in many aspects, but the most important are chemistry and experience.”

Sikeston generated 40 shots for the game and Wiggins moved into a tie for top 5 all-time for single-season goal scorers with 25.

The Bulldogs also secured their 10th win of the season with the victory, which is the team’s most since the 2018 season, and scored 74 goals this season, which is the most since the team qualified for the state quarterfinals in 2011 and scored 98 total goals that season.