St. Pius takes advantage of Pirates' nervousness en route to 3-0 victory

~ Perryville finished 15-9-1 following a loss in its first state playoff appearance.

Whether it was nerves, inexperience or a combination of both, Perryville looked out of sync in the early going of Tuesday's Class 1 girls soccer sectional at Notre Dame Regional High School.

The Pirates' poor start was too much to overcome in a 3-0 loss to St. Pius of Festus, Mo.

St. Pius will play Saturday in a quarterfinal game at the Anheuser-Busch Center.

Perryville (15-9-1) was making its first sectional appearance on Tuesday with a lineup filled with freshmen and sophomores. The Pirates have just two seniors and four juniors on a 23-player roster.

Meanwhile, St. Pius made its fourth straight sectional appearance and won for the second straight time. The Lancers beat Notre Dame in the sectional last year.

"I won't say it's a lack of effort ever, but I think we were a little nervous," Perryville coach Stacie Sargent said. "I think their experience showed tonight. How you get that experience is by getting here."

Before the Pirates had time to settle in, the Lancers had already knocked a shot off the post less than 3 minutes into the game. Around the 5-minute mark St. Pius (17-9) pushed across its first goal.

Lancers freshman Carrie Stone, who came into the game with a team-high 17 goals, got on the board thanks to a defensive miscue. With a Perryville defender trying to let the ball cross the end line, Stone managed to save the ball and push a shot past Perryville goalie Chastity Marr.

"That set the precedent," Sargent said. "When you give up a decent goal, it's OK. ... But we gave up a cheap goal. That's not to take anything away from them. They played well. Tonight, unfortunately, it took us about 25 minutes to get going."

Once the Lancers got going they were hard to stop. Stone continued to make plays up top, and about 10 minutes after the first goal, St. Pius was able to notch another. The second St. Pius goal actually deflected in off a Perryville defender when the Lancers put a cross into the box.

St. Pius coach Dan Bokern said getting an early lead is a luxury his team has not been able to enjoy much this season.

"It's one thing we struggled with all year, scoring early," he said. "We've had lots of chances, just couldn't put them away. The last few games we've done a good job putting them away."

Perryville had come back from early deficits on other occasions this season, including its 2-1 district championship win over St. Vincent. The Pirates trailed 1-0 at the half before coming back to win.

It did not take long for Perryville to respond following the second goal. Chelsey Marr just missed the net midway through the half off a perfect cross.

The Pirates had another strong chance in the last few minutes of the half. Perryville had about four shots at the net off a corner kick -- the St. Pius goalie was caught out of position with a host of players crammed in the box -- but was unable to capitalize.

"We had four shots in there," Sargent said. "We score a goal there and go down 2-1 at half it makes a big difference. But it wasn't meant to be."

Stone put the game out of reach just 3 minutes into the second half with her second goal of the game. Chastity Marr got a piece of the high shot but could not keep it out of the net.

Perryville's offense continued to put pressure on St. Pius, but was not able to generate some of the chances it had in the first half. St. Pius goalie Katheryn Eldridge hardly had to move to make the majority of her saves in late going.

"It was nice for me to get three goals, but I never felt safe even toward the end," Bokern said.

Despite the loss, the Pirates had plenty to celebrate in a season where they earned a share of the Jefferson County Conference and their first district title. The Pirates now can add playoff-tested to their resume as well.

"These girls established something for this program that's never been here," Sargent said.