Saxony soccer team tops defending state champs in OT

Tess Daniel didn't know her opportunity to win the biggest game of the Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team's season was about to come.

She didn't know the ball was headed her way, and when it arrived at her feet she didn't know where it came from.

"I actually wasn't expecting it at the time," Daniel said. "I just was standing there and all the sudden this ball comes toward me. I didn't even know who kicked it, honestly. It just came towards me."

Daniel knows exactly what to do when that happens.

"I just did what I know how to do and kind of dribbled around and just kicked it in there, aiming for the big goal," she said, before smiling at her own over simplification.

The freshman forward's aim was perfect and her overtime goal gave the Crusaders a 2-1 win over defending Class 1 state champion St. Pius on Wednesday afternoon at Saxony Lutheran High School.

The victory also gave the Crusaders the top seed in next week's Class 1 District 1 tournament, which will be hosted by St. Pius in Festus, after a vote resulted in a tie between the teams for the top spot. But that was something Saxony coach Ryan Schweain and his players downplayed.

"We actually just tried to ignore it," Schweain said. "We knew that whoever we ended up facing in Fredericktown and St. Vincent first that they have the ability to upset. We didn't want to overlook either of those two."

Saxony’s Lauren Hecht tries to get past St. Pius’ Meghan Karoly during the first half.

Saxony will face No. 4 seed Fredericktown on Saturday while St. Pius will face No. 3 seed St. Vincent.

Daniel's heroics were made possible by an improbably good pass from freshman teammate Logan Welker.

"They played a ball. It was kind of a 50/50 ball," Welker said. "I just took a chance, and I ran through it. It bounced off of me, and it went the right way luckily. Then I kind of dribbled it for a while, and I heard my teammates yelling that Tess was open because I was kind of looking downfield. I just laid a nice chip in and then she finished it."

Daniel took possession and streaked down the middle of the field at full speed with a St. Pius defender alongside. She looked as if she might stumble and fall or be pushed to the ground for multiple steps before drawing the goalie out and scoring the game winner.

"I don't know how," said Saxony Lutheran freshman Grace Mirly when asked how Daniel managed to stay upright. "That's just Tess. She goes full speed, and she'll finish it for us."

Daniel wasn't sure how she did it either.

"Whenever I kicked it in there I was almost on the ground," she said. "I'm not going to lie."

A troll doll cheers from the sideline in the first half of Saxony Lutheran's game against St. Pius, Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Saxony won 2-1 in overtime. (Laura Simon)

Mirly gave the Crusaders the lead in the fourth minute of the second half when she tapped in a pass from teammate freshman Ashlynn Collier.

"I didn't mean to take her goal," Mirly said. "But I don't know if it would've gone in, so I was just like, 'I'll just make sure.' Better safe than sorry."

Collier and freshman Maddie Brune did the harder work on the play. As Schweain had asked her to at halftime, Brune worked the ball across the middle, where Collier was waiting.

Saxony Lutheran's Maddie Brune wipes sweat from her face in the first half against St. Pius Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Saxony won 2-1 in overtime. (Laura Simon)

"We talked to Maddie about if she could get around the outside defender and get it in deep and just try to slide that ball across the middle and hopefully we could get a tap in, and it worked out," Schweain said. "It worked out just the way we talked about."

Saxony Lutheran controlled most of the first half of play, dominating possession. While the Crusaders had more opportunities to score, St. Pius had the best one.

"They did really well with their counters," Schweain said. "If we made a bad pass, they countered quickly and a couple time caught us off-guard, but for the most part I felt like we had the majority of the possession the first half."

St. Pius' Ashley Marks broke free on one counter and wound up 1-on-1 with Saxony goalkeeper Abby Goeckeler, who made the save.

"Huge save," Schweain said. "That's great for Abby, too. It's a big confidence builder. That would have changed the game for sure."

The Lancers, who earned more quality opportunities as the game progressed and the Crusaders tired, tied the game with five minutes left in regulation when Marks pounced on a rebound when Goeckeler couldn't control the ball after a save.

"It was just one of those, the player played it in from the middle of the field," Schweain said. "It took kind of a weird hop and Abby, I don't know, just couldn't get a grip on it. It dropped, and the girl was standing right there -- just an easy poke."

Saxony Lutheran improved to 19-1 with the victory and met another goal in the process.

"The goal today was to just put our mark on St. Pius, just get us in their minds," Mirly said.

St. Pius dispatched the Crusaders 6-1 in a district semifinal last season, but that Saxony Lutheran team holds little resemblence to this year's.

"As far as Pius goes, since we do have so many young players on our team, they didn't know what they were coming into," Schweain said. "We recognize their team from last year. We kind of knew what they were like, and they were kind of in the dark about us. I think the advantage might be on their end now. They're the two seed, lost in overtime in a really tight game. They're going to come out fired up and ready to go. They're going to want their revenge."