Saxony Lutheran soccer wins first district title since 2016

Saxony Lutheran senior Anna Mueller did something on Friday that she has waited years to do.

After the Crusaders defeated Gateway Science Academy 8-0, she took the Class 1 District 1 championship trophy, held it over her head, and ran across the field in jubilation.

"That's something I've been dreaming of since sophomore year, Mueller said. "That was the greatest feeling ever because we had reached that goal that we were capable of and getting to run over there with my teammates, that was just awesome."

Eight different Crusaders scored a goal against the Gators. Clara Brune (37:10), Faith Dreyer (19:31), Camille Richey (15:25), and Abby Haley (8:04) scored a goal in the first half. Maggie Hillin (38:19), Annie Adams (31:01), and Mallory Kohlfield (29:36) scored in the second half, and Sophie DeBrower scored the final goal with 24:40 left to trigger the mercy rule.

"We have in the past been a one-trick pony, and now I think you're gonna have to prepare for a lot of people to score goals, in a lot of different ways," said Saxony Lutheran head coach Christopher Crawford. "We have a little bit more creativity and a little bit more ability right now. So we're, we're hoping that carries forward."

Saxony Lutheran has scored eight or more goals in three of the last five games since the beginning of May.

"It's really starting to click a little bit for us," Crawford said. "Scoring has been our issue all year long, really for quite a while."

It felt like a long time coming for seniors Mueller and Ava Perry, who had their freshman years erased from the 2020 pandemic. The Crusaders won only four games in 2021 but doubled it in 2022 and were set up for this moment.

"We knew that whenever we get to our senior year that we were going to have a lot of potential and we can go far," Mueller said.

Saxony Lutheran won their district championship for the first time since 2017. This year has also been the Crusaders' (11-8) first winning season since 2018.

"This group has really been building together for the last three years," said Crawford. "Our seniors and juniors are basically the same class since they had that COVID year taken away. We had a pretty brutal first couple of years and to see what they've done coming from freshmen and sophomores all the way to right now is pretty incredible."

Even though they played the same amount of years on varsity, the senior duo still felt the responsibility of mentorship.

"We took them under our wing, and we realized that we all had potential," Mueller said. "Given the fact that we have a good number of them on our roster, we knew everyone had to accept their role and accept their playing time, and if they did that, we could have a lot of potential. Really our goal this year was to have team chemistry, have fun and communicate out there. We play for each other. We don't play as individuals."

Saxony Lutheran is entering the Class 1 state tournament playing its best soccer. Since April 26, the Crusaders have won six of their last seven games and allowed a total of 11 goals, seven of which came in a 7-0 loss to Perryville.

"Our defense and goalkeepers have been phenomenal," Crawford said.

Saxony Lutheran will play Metro in the Class 1 State Quarterfinal on Saturday, May 27.