State champions: Perryville soccer team closes dream season with state title

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. -- The Perryville soccer team has been dreaming big all season.

Before Saturday's Class 2 state championship, the Pirates knew their biggest dream of all was within reach.

But they couldn't take the field before going through the same pregame ritual they have all season.

The Pirates huddled together in a circle, threw their arms around one another, swayed back and forth and followed the lead of their senior captain Luke Schlichting.

"It's something we've always done," Schlichting said. "It's simple, it gets us going and ready to play. We look at each other face-to-face and let them know that we play for one another. That's why I say, 'Who's got my back?' and they respond with, 'I've got your back.' We become one unit with that chant, and that's how we've played all season."

That ritual became a celebration with fans, who joined in on the Pirates chant after they hoisted their first state championship trophy.

Perryville's Matthew Moran clears Soldan's Moussa Ndiaye in the first half of the Class 2 championship game on Saturday. (Glenn Landberg)

Perryville scored six second-half goals and went on to defeat Soldan International Studies 7-0 in the Class 2 state title game at Blue Springs High School.

"We talked about this before the game in a team meeting. We knew it was our last one, so we wanted to finish this off with a bang," Perryville coach Jerry Fulton said. "I told them at halftime, 'There are 40 minutes left. Let's finish this strong.' Could I have predicted they were going to come unglued and give up that many goals? Not at all. We thought it would be a lot closer. They were just beyond amazing today."

Perryville (29-1) won its 25th straight game, and in the process became just the 10th public school overall and first public school outside of MSHSAA's largest two classifications to win a state championship in boys soccer. Perryville kept the ball on Soldan's side of the field for most of the first half. The Pirates had several scoring opportunities early in the game and outshot the Tigers 7-4.

With 8:23 remaining in the half, Perryville's leading scorer Eann Bergman subbed in for Emilio Mattingly at the right forward position. Soldan (13-3-1) had just kicked the ball out of bounds and Kyle Wood was setting up for a throw-in. Wood's pass went to Matt Moran, who settled the ball, turned to his right and drove a pass to the middle of the box. The pass deflected off of Conner Stark and rolled to the feet of Bergman. The junior did not hesitate and drilled a shot into the bottom left corner to give the Pirates a one-goal lead before halftime.

"I can't even explain how it felt," Bergman said. "I wasn't planning to set up for it. It just worked for us."

Perryville's Conner Stark runs against Soldan's Wah Moo in the first half of the Class 2 championship. (Glenn Landberg)

The Pirates came out even stronger in the second half, scoring three goals in seven minutes, 58 seconds.

Bergman scored his second of the game after a Soldan defender tried to clear the ball out of the Tigers' zone. The ball took an awkward angle off of the defender's foot and bounced backwards towards the goal. Soldan goalie Asanay Aroro could not react to the bounce in time as he watched the ball hit the right goal post and roll towards the penalty marker.

Bergman rushed in and tapped it in for an easy goal.

Four minutes later, Bergman competed the rare feat of scoring a natural hat trick -- scoring three goals in a row -- when he stole the ball from a Soldan defender in the box and rifled a quick shot under the reach of Aroro's outstretched gloves.

"I've never even had one, so it felt pretty great," Bergman said. "This was for our town and for the seniors. We've all been playing together forever. To get it with them and send them out like this is the best feeling."

Bergman, a junior, scored a team-high 27 goals for the Pirates this season.

In the 30th minute, Mike Volansky passed to Schlichting on the right wing near the Pirates' goal. Schlichting took the ball all the way down the field to the right corner and maneuvered his way around one defender before driving to the net. Schlichting said that was a ball he would usually cross, but instead he took it himself. His shot deflected off of Aroro's right shoulder and into the net.

Snow falls on Perryville fans watching the final moments of the Class 2 championship Saturday. (Glenn Landberg)

"I was open and the swing pass was right there," Schlichting said. "I noticed he was off his line, so I took advantage of it. When you're out of position at this level, it's going to cost you. We made him pay."

Trevor Martin added a goal with 22 minutes to play on a free kick delivered by Moran. Martin, a defender, said he got a signal from Moran to crash the net. His timing was perfect as he headed the ball into the back of the net.

"Matt looked at me and gave me a little head nod," Martin said. "The guy lined up to me was quite a bit shorter than me. I saw the ball coming and my eyes got wider and I was just like, 'OK. I'm going to score this,' and the ball from Matt was right there and I put it in."

Martin said he was happy to score his third goal in his final game as a Pirate, but said defense was a big part of the Pirates success in the championship, where the Pirates held the Tigers to two shots in the final half.

"Defense stepped up big like we have all season," Martin said. "Whether it was me, Dylan, Collin or Nathan we were just there and we were ready for their attacks. They countered quickly, but we were able to get back, be in position and stop everything."

Senior Emmanuel Miranda added a goal with 17 minutes to play on a pass from Nathan Noland.

With 15 seconds remaining, senior Levi Lappe tacked on his third goal of the season.

Perryville will lose nine seniors to graduation, but after four years of coaching them, Fulton said he couldn't be happier to send them off on a winning note.

"It's awesome. It really has been the goal and the dream for so many of them," Fulton said. "What a fantastic send-off for these guys that made this whole long journey happen in the first place when they stepped on the field together four years ago."

Schlichting said it was a bittersweet moment for he and the other five seniors who have been playing together for 13 years.

"More than half our team have been playing together since we were little," Schlichting said. "So as happy as this is, I have to say it's also a little sad. Winning a state championship with these guys is crazy. I could not have asked for a better group of guys, actually brothers, to play this game with.