NOTEBOOK: Brune has her moment, seniors lead Saxony Lutheran girls soccer to another title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Ahead of the final home practice of the year for the Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team Monday morning, coach Garrett Fritsche sent a text message to his senior captain Maddie Brune.

"This is your time."

It was a rallying cry for his team's leader, not a prophecy, but in the end it worked as both.

Four days later it was Brune who scored the game winner, as the Crusaders dropped Trinity Catholic 1-0 to win the MSHSAA Class 1 championship at Swope Park Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri.

The strength of Saxony Lutheran's squad has always been its talent across the field, but as the Crusaders turned up the heat in the second half of a scoreless game, one couldn't help but feel like it was Brune pulling the strings. While there were many important players doing many important things to lift Saxony to a second straight state title, Brune was undoubtedly the heartbeat, and in the biggest moment of the final game in her Crusader career, the heartbeat was pounding.

Fritsche knew how important that was to his team; he wanted to make sure his heartbeat knew it as well.

"I definitely feel pressure, but I think it's almost a good thing," Brune said. "It makes me push harder because it makes me feel like I have something to prove and expectations to live up to. Having that on my shoulders made me want to push harder and made me want to get other people to push harder, too."

On Thursday, she pushed, literally. After a first half that was uneven, Fritsche and assistant coach Chris Crawford made a switch -- they moved Brune up top into one of the striker positions in the team's standard 3-5-2. Brune has long been a versatile player -- she played four positions in the championship game -- but the senior, who will play center back at Troy next year, is not a forward.

"Actually, that was one of the first times I played forward, so I didn't really know what I was doing," Brune said.

Saxony Lutheran's Maddie Brune holds off a Trinity Catholic defender during the Class 1 girls soccer championship Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri. Brune scored the Crusader's lone goal in a 1-0 victory to earn a second consecutive title.KIT DOYLE ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

If that's the case, she fooled everyone in the stadium Thursday.

"In the first half I was debating it, and then Crawford brought it up," Fritsche said. "[Trinity's] sweeper, [Melanie Gubicya], is the first girl I've seen been able to keep up in a foot race with Laurel [Mueller] and Tess [Daniel] an entire game. We thought, instead of going with speed we'd go with flat-out battle. We thought, Maddie's going to battle up there, hold her off and get in positions the other ones can't based on their skills. ... We'll let Maddie out-work [Gubicya] and get around her. She didn't get one in the heat of play, but she had her chances, and on that kick she battled in there. She had three or four people on her back and she got it in there."

In the 44th minute, Brune's ability to physically dominate a game came to the forefront. Normally she's doing it to bull through the midfield or knock an opposing player off the ball, but this time around she was getting under a bouncing ball in the attacking third, shouldering off Gubicya, heading the ball over the sweeper's head and then slipping past her. The best the Titan defense could do was get the ball away for a Saxony corner kick.

A moment later, Brianna Mueller sent the corner to the top of the 6-yard box, where Brune put her back into three Trinity defenders, held them off the ball and knocked it into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead that stood until the end.

Fritsche wanted a physical presence up top to change the game, and he got it.

"We got lucky, made the right calls and hopefully put them in the right positions," the coach said. "Whether that was the game changer, I don't know, but it sure seemed like it helped in that second half."

Shortly after she scored, Brune moved into the attacking midfield role normally occupied by Grace Mirly, while Mirly played out wide left and offered defensive help at a level she's not normally asked to do. But Saxony never missed a beat, and even with Brune's defensive impact lessened, the team didn't give up a shot in the second half.

It was, perhaps, the most fitting way for Saxony Lutheran to win its second championship.

After an MCL tear kept Brune out for the entirety of the 2015 season, she was forced to watch as her team lifted the first state title trophy in program history.

"Last year was the hardest but best thing that could have happened to her," Fritsche said. "She developed so much being on the sideline. You can't get that by playing. The amount of knowledge and how to go about leading this team, she gained that all last year. She's always been a leader, but she just took it to a whole new level. I'll give her credit for what we're able to do as a team because she's helped me out so much as far as her knowledge and what she's able to do, how she takes on these girls and takes them under her wing and goes out there and leads them. You can't teach that."

Her coach and teammates laud her impact as a leader from the sideline in 2015, but Brune was still left feeling like her championship experience was incomplete. When the opportunity came to actively take part in getting her Crusaders a championship, the senior was not going to go out any other way.

"At half, when it was 0-0, it really came to the forefront that we only have 40 minutes left and I only have 40 minutes playing in this uniform," Brune said. "I'm going to do everything I possibly can to put the ball in the back of the net and do everything I can to help my teammates. I think once we finally got that goal the momentum just switched and we found that extra energy.

"It's an amazing feeling. In my mind, yes, I had a huge part in our win last year, but not being on the field and not having an actual physical role in it, it almost felt like I was not really a part of it. This year, to actually have the winning goal is so special to me."

Honoring Galemmo

Saxony Lutheran senior Ali Galemmo hugs teammates Logan Welker and Grace Mirly (right) after the Class 1 state championship Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri. Galemmo got an honorary start after missing the season with a fractured foot.KIT DOYLE ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

A year after Brune had to watch as her teammates worked their way to a state championship without her, Ali Galemmo had to do the same thing.

Galemmo -- a first-team All-State selection as a sweeper in 2014 and a second-team pick in 2015 while playing out of position at forward -- fractured her foot early in Saxony Lutheran basketball's state quarterfinal win over Park Hills Central on March 5. The initial diagnosis was that the key piece in the Crusader puzzle would miss half the season and work her way back to help the team for its stretch drive. But just over a month ago Galemmo got bad news -- the foot would need surgery, and surgery would put her eight weeks away from returning to soccer.

"It was really difficult, especially hearing the news," Galemmo said. "It just kind of leaves you speechless. I was so eager -- I was just wanting to get back out there. I was pain free so I felt like I could go, but hearing that it wasn't actually healed, it kind of devastates you."

Galemmo signed with Maryville University prior to her injury and will continue her soccer career at the next level. That provided a light at the end of the tunnel for the senior, but wasn't enough to completely heal the wound of missed time with her Saxony family.

"She kind of got into a mood where she was really down, and she's the type of person that puts on a straight face all the time," Brune said. "She never shows her emotions. She never shows any kind of weakness.

"She was always afraid that she wasn't going to be able to come back from this. I just constantly told her that, 'You are stronger than you think you are, and you will pull through. You've just got to keep believing in yourself and do whatever you can to get back on the field.'"

In the meantime, the Crusaders wanted to make sure Galemmo understood how important she was.

When Saxony reached the 2015 title game, Fritsche replaced an able-bodied Galemmo in the starting lineup in favor of an injured Brune, swapping the two after the game kicked off. This time around, Brune wanted to return the favor.

Not everyone, though, was sympathetic. Fritsche and assistant coach Chris Crawford met Thursday morning to get approval to give Galemmo the start, but MSHSAA officials could not be convinced. Without official clearance from a doctor, the coaching staff was told that Galemmo could not be on the field during game play.

So the Crusaders offered up a more symbolic gesture instead.

Galemmo joined her teammates at center field, in uniform, and was announced as a starter in place of Brune. When the first whistle blew, Saxony Lutheran began the state championship with just 10 players on the field.

"I just felt like, as far as her and as far as how much she's meant to this team and this program, she deserved it," Fritsche said. "She doesn't get to step out on the field for the first whistle, but just being honored for her accomplishments and what she's done for us, it's huge.

"It was hard looking at her on the bench all year and thinking, 'I can't put you in and I want to so bad.' You can't take that kind of player out and just drop someone in and replace them. ... For Ali, this is what we wanted. Especially Maddie."

The team was able to honor a player who had been critical in the program's growth, and Brune was able to return the gesture offered to her a year earlier.

"She wasn't just a vital player we missed on the field, she's one of my best friends," Brune said. "To have the opportunity to give her this chance that she so rightly deserved was so special for me. I wanted to do it, and I texted [Fritsche] about it for a long, long time to make sure it could happen."

While the plan had been in the works between Brune and Fritsche for some time, it wasn't announced to the team until right before Thursday's pre-championship warmup.

"There were a few tears and people started crying," senior Brianna Mueller said. "Ali had a big old smile on her face. To have a team let us do that against them and be good sports, that shows a lot of class. I'm just glad she was able to do that her senior year, in her last game ever."

After the opening kick, Trinity Catholic booted the ball out of bounds, and Brune made her way back onto the field. But the opportunity to stand side-by-side with her teammates for one final time at least eased some of the bitterness from a bittersweet ending for Galemmo.

"For the other team to show class and let me do that [and agree to kick the ball out], I know I didn't even start but just to do that and know I was involved somehow," Galemmo said.

"This year has been rough. ... [But] you just have to look at the positives."

The final final farewell

The Saxony Lutheran starting lineup stands on the field for the national anthem prior to the Class 1 girls soccer state championship Thursday at Swope Park Soccer Village. It was the last time together for an 11-person senior class.KIT DOYLE ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

There have been many lasts for an 11-senior core for the Crusaders. For many who were critical to the Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team, there was the end of a strong run on the court back in March. Then there was the end of classes, and then graduation. But there was still soccer.

Now, at least as a group, there is no more.

After raising the Class 1 trophy on Thursday, Saxony's game-changing senior class walked off the field for the last time together.

"This is the last time I get to put a Saxony jersey on and it's bitter. Not bittersweet. Bitter," Brianna Mueller said.

"I don't think it's hit me yet. We're still on a high, we just won a state championship and things are going good. I don't think we've all realized -- it's over. It's over for us. There are no tomorrows -- 'I'll see you at practice tomorrow.' That's sad. That's devastating. But we knew it was coming. We knew our time was coming and I don't think we have any regrets, so that's pretty awesome."

Heather Wills, Taylor Fritsche, Logan Meyr, Tayla Meyr, Mirly, Brune, Mueller, Galemmo, Tess Daniel, Logan Welker and Raegan Wieser all started and/or garnered major playing time for the Crusaders. Between basketball -- which six of the girls helped to four straight district titles, two final four trips and a state runner-up finish this past season -- and soccer, the class has made an immeasurable impact on Saxony Lutheran athletics.

"It's a bittersweet moment, that's for sure," coach Fritsche said. "This group has done so much for this school, even outside of sports. They're all leaders in their own way with their own things. It's going to be a huge loss for this school. They helped grow this school, this soccer program, the basketball program; everything they put their heart and mind into, they developed and made it better. Everything they've touched was changed for the better."

Wills (Missouri Baptist), Brune (Troy) and Galemmo (Maryville) will play soccer in college. Mueller (Lindenwood-Belleville) and Wieser (Columbia College) will continue at the next level on the basketball court. Mirly will join Brune at Troy, but pull on a softball uniform.

But after years -- in some cases, a lifetime -- of joining forces on a playing field, the run is done.

Brune garnered a reputation among the group as an unwelcome timekeeper, counting down the days. But that countdown didn't work toward an arbitrary end, it pointed to June 2 -- the date of the state championship.

Brune's objective was not to fixate on the looming elephant in the room, but to emphasize the importance of making the most of the time that was left. On Thursday, Class 1 title trophy in hand, it appeared that mission had been accomplished.

"It is not processed at all, and I don't think it will until the time we all leave each other," Brune said. "I think right now we're all on this high and it hasn't set in that it's over. Once it does, I think it will hit us like a train, but right now we're just going to ride this as long as we can.

"This is our senior year. It was our final time playing together. That's crazy, for one. It was the final time playing for our school. I think it was an honor for all of us to play in this game, but to win it is just incredible."