Perryville girls soccer team falls to St. Pius in district title game

Perryville soccer coach Jerry Fulton knew his Pirates would have to play a near-perfect game to win the Class 2 Division 1 district championship Tuesday night.

Instead, it was perennial power St. Pius X that played a nearly flawless match to score a 3-0 win at Notre Dame Regional High School.

The Lancers (23-1) advanced to this weekend's sectional competition behind two goals from sophomore midfielder Sammy Linderer and a shutout performance from sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Hovatter. Linderer scored once in each half while Hovatter had eight saves, including a key save in the opening moments that kept the Pirates off the scoreboard early.

"I thought when we came out in the first 10, 15 minutes of the game, we had the better chances," Fulton said. "We had two really good chances early. We had their goalie on the ground, but the ball just didn't bounce our way.

"Pius is good. They're skilled. They're fast. They're going to make it to the [Class 2] final four whether they win state or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they do."

Indeed, the Pirates (16-7) had the best chance early when junior midfielder Kylie Bilek ran onto a long ball down the right sideline and crossed a pass to the front of the goal. Hovatter muffed the save and, with the ball loose on the ground, Perryville senior Alex Spears tried to tap the ball past the goal line. But Hovatter recovered to cover the ball, denying Perryville.

That seemed to wake up the Lancers, who slowly began to take command of the midfield. Midway through the first half, Linderer controlled a ball near midfield and began a long run down the right sideline. About 10 yards short of the end line, from just outside the penalty box, she lifted a shot that tipped the fingers of leaping Perryville goalkeeper Miranda Stortz and fell across the goal line.

Stortz, who finished with 12 saves, did her best to keep the Pirates close. In the closing minutes of the first half, she ran up on a long pass, nearly beating St. Pius' Abby Ottoline to the ball. Ottoline managed a shot that Stortz got a hand on, the ball skipping past her and rolling weakly toward the corner of the goal. Perryville defender Daria Thompson, hustling back on defense, cleared the ball before it crossed the goal line.

St. Pius stepped up its attack early in the second half. Ottoline nearly scored on a header that veered over the crossbar in the opening minute. Stortz made a couple sliding saves before diving to stop a low shot from Lauren Marks, then covering up on a rebound attempt.

Then Linderer struck again, deftly dribbling down the right side before rifling a shot from about 18 yards out into the upper corner to give the Lancers a 2-0 cushion.

"I feel like today I really wanted to do well for my team," Linderer said. "So I was working really hard to get to where I needed to be, and I feel like it ended up perfect with assists from my teammates. Without them, I wouldn't have gotten anything that I got today."

"Getting up by two goals is always important," St. Pius coach Dan Bokern said. "This is a nice field, a big field, so there's more chances to pass that ball. So I was happy with that."

The second goal seemed to deflate the Pirates, who struggled to manage any sustained offensive thrust throughout the second half. Their best chance to score came late in the game when Bilek ran onto a long pass on the right side, but her cross toward the goal was just a shade too far for junior forward Brooke Hogard, who was streaking for the far post.

By that time, the Lancers had a 3-0 lead after junior Molly Kovarik sped down the right sideline and crossed in front to senior forward Brooke Merseal, who was able to tip the ball past Stortz with a flick of her right foot.

"[Merseal] created a lot of things with her ball movement and just good play, but they've got a lot of talented girls," Fulton said. "And Dan's a good coach. He knows what he's doing. You won't find a nicer guy around. I wish him all the luck in the world on their run to state."

For the Pirates, it was a sudden end to a surprisingly successful season. Perryville managed just eight shots on goal, and had just one corner kick in the game. But they were also a squad dominated by juniors that earned the district's second seed and earned a spot in Tuesday's district title game with a 5-1 conquest of Notre Dame on Saturday.

"I think it's the best [team] I've played on in my four years," Perryville senior midfielder Brooke Moll said. "We never gave up, ever. I definitely think we came out and surprised a lot of people in district play, especially Saturday. A lot of people thought we couldn't do it, but we did, and we stuck together and played together as a team. *... St. Pius is a great team. They're all very athletic and fast. They beat us today. They earned it.

"But they didn't take anything away from us."