Seabaugh can smile this time as St. Vincent soccer returns to final four

~ St. Vincent's Seabaugh will play in this year's final four after sitting out last year's due to knee surgery

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The scar that runs the length of Kayla Seabaugh's right knee provides the motivation.

Last year's surgery is a distant memory for the St. Vincent junior, but there's still ache.

It's the sting of missing the opportunity to play in last year's final four. It's something she hopes to erase today and Saturday at the Class 1 girls soccer final four at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton, Mo.

"I'm just going to try to take advantage of it because it sucks when it's taken away from you and you have no other choice but to just sit there and watch," she said.

St. Vincent junior Kayla Seabaugh is a midfielder who has played a major role with her soccer team's drive toward state competition this year. (Fred Lynch)

Seabaugh, who plays defensive stopper, said she tore two of the three fibers in her right knee during the regular-season finale against Hillsboro last year. It didn't happen scoring a goal or making a fantastic play.

"The ball was nowhere near me," she said. "I had changed direction and I just collapsed."

The injury ended Seabaugh's season. She couldn't even make it to the state semifinal game against Springfield Catholic last year because she was just a few days removed from surgery. She made it to the third-place game against Barstow and watched her team trudge to a third-place finish.

Sitting in the stands as a spectator burned, especially since Seabaugh hates down time.

"I don't enjoy relaxing," she said. "Soccer and basketball and softball, I consider that relaxing. I don't really do much else."

Seabaugh is polite and well-spoken off the field. Abby Lappe, one of Seabaugh's closest friends, loves spending time with her teammate away from the field.

"She is really funny," Lappe said. "I just love her like a sister. She's great to be around and she likes to have fun that's not bad -- good fun. She's just a great friend and she's always there for me and whoever needs it. She's always willing to help."

But when Seabaugh steps onto a soccer field, everything changes. The manners disappear. The politeness evaporates.

"She brings out the competitiveness in everyone else because if you can't match her, you're probably not going to like her," St. Vincent coach Dusty Wengert said.

The opposition quickly notices Seabaugh's passion on the field.

"She's intense and hard-core and she doesn't want to lose," Perryville coach Stacie Sargent said. "That shows from the minute the whistle blows to the final horn blows."

The way Seabaugh plays head balls exemplifies her attitude on the field. She attacks the ball in the air and throws her head toward it with her fists clenched. She isn't afraid to make contact with the opposition while in the air.

"She just gives it her all," Lappe said. "She puts her whole heart out there every single day. She never gives up. She's determined to win."

The intensity isn't limited to games.

"There's some times we actually have to tell her to back off in practice because we're afraid that something's going to happen to her during practice," Wengert said.

Seabaugh admits her personality changes when she steps onto the field.

"Seeing pictures of me doing things I didn't know I could do, it's kind of interesting," she said. "When I'm on the field, I don't think about anything. I just know to play."

Seabaugh started playing soccer when she was 5 years old. She said her parents signed her up for a league in Perryville and she still remembers it was her third game when she fell in love with the sport.

"When I scored my first goal on my team, I think that's when I knew," she said.

She started playing for a club team in St. Louis in the fourth grade, something she's continued to do. She credits that experience with helping her develop her skills.

"It's helped a lot," she said. "When I started going up there, I wasn't very good. ... It's just a different game in St. Louis."

The constant exposure to the game has helped her refine her skills and become more competitive.

"Kayla's experience is such a huge asset for her," said Sargent, whose team played St. Vincent three times this season. "But she's so smart about the game and has a true understanding of the game, which you can't say about a lot of kids anymore."

One area where Seabaugh really excels is corner kicks. She's developed a knack for converting Storm French's volleys from the corner into goals.

"She's most dangerous on corners," Sargent said. "I know that's something they set up. They set up for her to come in to connect with Storm. You always have to be aware of where she's at."

French and Seabaugh have been playing together since the fourth or fifth grade, and Seabaugh said she can tell where French is going to place a corner by the way French lines up for the kick.

"We've been playing for so long, we just know where each other is going to be," French said. "We're able to find each other on every cross and corner. It's very helpful."

Seabaugh said she feels like she's letting down French if she doesn't bury a header off a corner.

"Storm and I have always played well together and I know that when [Wengert] first put me in the box [on corners], I knew what my job was," she said. "My freshman year, I started out kicking corners too, and I know how frustrating it is when people don't finish. That's motivation enough for me to finish Storm's."

Seabaugh is a player who relies on her speed to help create chances. Wengert said he's noticed a change in Seabaugh's attitude but not her skills this season.

"The way she plays is no different," he said. "If anything with the way she plays, she's trying to make up for lost time. She's going harder sometimes. Her speed, I haven't really noticed a loss of step or anything like that. I think she plays it so hard, she would push it to that next level whether her body can handle it or not."

That attitude has her tied for second on the team with 12 goals, including the game-winner against John Burroughs in Saturday's state quarterfinal game. She's also added seven assists.

"Because she is such an offensive-minded defender, our forwards or one of our center-mids, depending on how we are aligned that day, they have to be aware of where she's at and when she's coming in," Sargent said. "You've got to man-mark her once she comes into the front 30. There's no doubt."

Seabaugh, who already committed to play at Missouri State after next year, should make a big difference for the Indians at the final four this season. Her nose for the goal only serves as a bonus because she solidifies her team's defense. She's quick enough to track down free balls and isn't afraid to throw her head toward a ball in the air with disregard for injury.

"I just think she's going to run through a wall for me if I ask her to," Wengert said. "She's that dedicated to the sport."

And if things go as she hopes today and Saturday, the sting of missing last year's final four will dissipate.

"It's definitely an experience that everyone who is truly in love with sports should get to experience," she said about winning a state title.