Saxony Lutheran girls soccer prevails past St. Vincent, wins district in PKs

It was, by the team's own admission, its most frustrating game of the season, but when it was over, Saxony Lutheran girls soccer coach Garrett Fritsche checked his pulse and summed things up with four words.

"We pulled it off."

In a fitting ending to an epic clash, Crusader senior captain Maddie Brune -- who missed out on her team's 2015 state championship campaign because of a torn MCL -- stepped to the penalty spot and smacked the ball to the right side of goal and past diving St. Vincent goalkeeper Courtney Brewer, putting Saxony up 4-3 in penalty kicks and 2-1 overall to win the Class 1 District 1 championship Wednesday at Saxony Lutheran High School.

Saxony Lutheran forward Laurel Mueller slips past three St. Vincent defenders to score a first-half goal in the Class 1 District 1 championship Wednesday in Jackson, Mo. After ending regulation 1-1, the Crusaders prevailed in penalty kicks.Josh Mlot

Tied at 1 after 110 minutes -- regulation plus two periods of extra time -- Crusader keeper Raegan Wieser stopped the first two Indian PKs, while Saxony's first three shooters -- Logan Welker, Cassidee Wunderlich and Brianna Mueller -- each made their attempts.

St. Vincent (13-9) responded, getting successful spot kicks from Jenna Winkler, Kaiti Schnurbush and Hannah Lukefahr, and a miss by Crusader Grace Mirly left the teams knotted at 3. But Brune came to the penalty spot with a chance to seal it and did.

"I've always thought, 'I've never won a state championship.' So getting the chance to win districts and go on is crazy for me and really a dream come true," Brune said. "All week we've been practicing, and we all pick our spot and we hit there every time. So, yeah, I had my spot picked, and I knew exactly where it was going.

"[Wieser's saves] are huge and I'm so proud of her because we've been working all week on penalty kicks and she just did a phenomenal job. It lifts a lot of pressure off. I think it relaxes us and lets us get into a groove so we don't have to freak out and it's like any other shot on goal."

Laurel Mueller scored a first-half goal for the home side, courtesy of a Mirly assist, beating three Indian defenders and putting the ball away to the left in the 37th minute.

St. Vincent answered with a 57th-minute goal from Schnurbusch, who took advantage of chaos in the 6-yard box after a corner kick and knocked the ball off a defender and across the goal line for a 1-1 game.

It was a deserved scoreline on a day when the Indians caused Saxony (19-1) all kinds of problems, going toe-to-toe in the first half and then coming out in the second half by utilizing an aggressive high press that tipped the field in their favor.

"We finished that first half and even though we were down 1-0, we were pretty excited about how the first half went for us," St. Vincent coach Caitlin Pistorio said. "We knew they looked a little winded in the back line, let's keep up that pressure. If you keep hammering them long enough, eventually they're going to break. That's what we did and kept the pressure on really until the end."

For the Crusaders, who were unable to maintain the level of possession they have been accustomed to, it became a battle of attrition in which the goal was simply to survive, especially when winger Tess Daniel was sent off with a straight red card in the 98th minute -- early in the second period of extra time -- after incidental contact between her foot and Brewer's head on a race to a ball into the 18-yard box.

The Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team reacts during a penalty kick shootout against St. Vincent in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 championship Wednesday in Jackson, Mo.Josh Mlot

"Honestly, this was definitely not our 'A' game," Saxony senior midfielder Brianna Mueller said. "It's probably one of the worst games we've played all year, and to be down one player for almost the entire second overtime and still overcome that, I think that says a lot about our team and a lot about our character.

"I know that we did not want today to be our last game. As a senior ... we did not want our journey to be over here at Saxony, and I think that pushed us to give everything we had."

The first half saw the Crusaders with an edge in possession, but the scale of real opportunities was balanced, with each team getting only a couple genuine looks at goal.

St. Vincent's Corin Carroll got a 1-v-1 chance in the 14th minute, firing a shot on goal that forced a finger-tip save by Wieser.

The Crusaders' best opportunity came late in the half, and they took it, as Mirly controlled the ball into the attacking third before pushing it to Laurel Mueller near the top of the box to the right of goal. Mueller cut back past one defender, split two more and then beat Brewer for a 1-0 lead.

Saxony Lutheran's Maddie Brune reacts as teammate Tess Daniel receives a red card in the second overtime period of the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 girls soccer championship Wednesday in Jackson, Mo.Josh Mlot

The first 30 minutes of the second half were dominated by a high-energy Indian side, which took advantage near the midway point of the half when the pressure paid off first with a corner and then with a Schnurbusch goal.

"We talked at half that they were going to come out and play twice as hard as they played in the first half, and they did," Fritsche said. "I've never seen them play that hard and that well -- they played a great game.

"We were dead and they have a deep bench and they use it. We were exhausted."

The exhaustion factor was clear for both sides -- Saxony didn't even play a full 80 minutes in its quarterfinal blowout of Carnahan, while St. Vincent had played through terrible weather in a close battle against Kelly just 24 hours earlier -- and as the legs began to go, the game got chippy. As the physicality set in, the game careened toward extra time.

"Any time two teams fight as hard as they do and go as long as they do, they get tired and you start to get a little chippy," Pistorio said. "It's just part of the game. But both teams fought until the end. They're an excellent team and I [expect] them to go pretty far."

With everyone waiting for something to give, the result was left to the mercy of penalty kicks.

St. Vincent's Faith Kapp turns on the ball and runs away from Saxony Lutheran defensive midfielder Logan Meyr during the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 girls soccer championship Wednesday in Jackson, Mo. Kapp and the Indians pushed the reigning state champions to penalty kicks, but the Crusaders ultimately defended their district title.Josh Mlot

"I hate them [penalty kicks], no matter who wins it," Fritsche said. "But we're moving on, and I'm grateful for that."

In the end, the will of a veteran team of seniors desperate to defend their state title was enough to pull through.

"It's crazy. Going in to double overtime, being down a player, I thought we had the most intensity then [compared to] the entire game," Brune said. "Just thinking that we might not pull through and then doing it, it's crazy."

It's the second year in a row Saxony has defeated St. Vincent in the district final.

"This group of girls, they're incredible," Pistorio said. "They've been fighters all season long, and we knew if we had a chance to play Saxony in the district championship, it would be a heck of a game. We're a good team. We've struggled on and off, but I'm excited about what we have in the future.

"We're losing one starter [Emily Welker] to graduation. ... This is one step to show us, 'Hey, we're right there.' And we're young. Next season we'll get a few more players from the eighth-grade class and we'll take another shot at it."

Saxony advances to take on Principia on Wednesday in a state quarterfinal.