SV romps into Class 1 semis

FENTON, Mo. -- St. Elizabeth goalie Ashley Cronin grabbed her head with both hands and leaned against the post after allowing Liz Brueckner's goal.

The shot went right through Cronin's hands and into the netting for St. Vincent's third goal in the opening half.

It was just the beginning for Cronin.

The Indians peppered the Hawks junior with quality shots, beating her eight times, as the defending Class 1 state champions advanced to the final four with their 8-0 victory Thursday at the Anheuser-Busch Center.

"It's an amazing feeling and we know we can do it again," Brueckner said. "We know that we're in the final four, we're here and we want to win it all again. We know how that feels and it's an awesome feeling."

St. Vincent sophomore Storm French switches directions as St. Elizabeth's Kaitlyn Lauman defends during Thursday's Class 1 quarterfinal game at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton, Mo. (Kit Doyle)

Brueckner thought her shot was harmless when she let it go from the right side.

"I didn't really anticipate her hands would bend back like that," Brueckner said. "I actually did not think that was going in. That was just a shot on goal."

The St. Vincent players knew little about the Hawks entering Thursday's state quarterfinal. Their coach, Dustin Wengert, declined to share anything about St. Elizabeth before the game.

"Coach didn't want to tell us about what their team was like because he didn't want us going in expecting to win," St. Vincent sophomore Storm French said.

Wengert's lack of sharing stemmed from a common opponent for his team and St. Elizabeth. The Hawks defeated Hillsboro 2-0 this season, while St. Vincent dominated Hillsboro 9-0. He was afraid of his players wasting time in practice, so he kept the scouting report to himself.

St. Vincent's Liz Brueckner, right, struggles with St. Elizabeth's Nafisa Bangura Thursday, May 27, 2010, against in Fenton. (Kit Doyle)

The Indians (22-2) dominated play from the start Thursday. They created quality chances but their shots kept sailing wide or over the goal.

"We weren't anticipating that we'd have that many shots and that many opportunities," Brueckner said. "It was kind of difficult seeing that we couldn't put it in the net. But once we did, we got on a roll and kept finishing."

French scored first when she took a cross from Mallory Tucker and beat Cronin. French added two more goals to finish with the hat trick.

"We would always beat them to the ball and then we would have time, a lot of space to do whatever we wanted," French said. "We could get our heads up and look. I just tried to get my head up and look and see if it was open and get a good touch on the ball."

French's second goal, St. Vincent's fifth in the first half, was a rocket from well outside the 18-yard box. She launched her blast over Cronin to pad her team's lead.

French enjoyed her usual success offensively, which was more impressive since she recently moved to the defense. St. Vincent sophomore Kayla Seabaugh, the Indians' stopper, tore her ACL against Hillsboro late in the regular season and is done for the year. Wengert decided to move French to stopper from the midfield.

"She's probably the closest thing to Kayla in that position," Wengert said. "She can score from there, she's got speed, she can defend, she can be an offensive player."

French said the move to a new position hasn't been difficult.

"I have played defense in my past a little bit," she said. "I kind of know what it's like. It's kind of like a midfield, but you don't get to go up as much.

"I still try to keep it more defensively based, but coach always tells me to push up every now and then when the mids are going up the sideline or getting ready to cross."

Emily Cissell added a pair of goals, including one that resulted from some nifty footwork. She side-stepped a defender in the box then snapped a low shot into the corner. She added the Indians' eighth goal when she put in a loose ball after a scrum in the box.

"We didn't want to slow down our play," she said. "We just kept up the tempo and moved the ball very fast and we pressured. We beat them to the ball and it helped us out."

Cissell has a history of finding the back of the net on the Anheuser-Busch field. She scored two goals, including one in the opening 30 seconds, in last year's state semifinal. She added another tally in the state championship game.

Cissell will get an opportunity to continue her scoring touch at the Anheuser-Busch Center when the Indians play in the state semifinals at noon June 4.

"We have a lot more experience this year," French said. "Last year we didn't really know what was going on. We want to do what we did last year, except better."