'This is a business trip:' Pressure makes return to final four a new experience for Saxony Lutheran girls soccer

The only word that Saxony Lutheran senior Tess Daniel can form in her head is "indescribable." The feeling of winning a state soccer championship with her fellow Crusaders a year ago escapes her grasp, or at least the grasp of her tongue. So, too, does the thought of winning a second one, which is the goal -- the expectation, really -- as the Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team opens its second consecutive trip to the MSHSAA Class 1 final four today.

But even if context can be an elusive, slippery thing, there's little doubt that things feel a little different than they did a year ago.

"I think it feels different in the sense that we have expectations now and people are looking at us and expecting us to go do something with this, so there's more pressure on us than last year," senior team captain Maddie Brune says. "Last year was more just fun; this is a business trip."

The pressure changes things. By way of the transitive property, if Saxony soccer won a state title in 2015 and then returns the exact same team in 2016, that team should again win a championship. Right?

Reality, however, works differently, and the Crusaders (20-1) have played all season -- and continue to play -- with a target on their backs, all the while fighting complacency and the flimsy grip that humans, but especially teenagers, have on focus. And in a sport that can be unusually cruel.

"Our concern coming into this year was will [the seniors] stay focused and will they stay together?" Saxony Lutheran coach Garrett Fritsche says. "They graduated two weeks ago now. Several are going to play in college and are already in training and working on that. So it's a matter of are you going to remain focused on this? They've all got great futures ... and that was our concern. Were they going to stay focused after they graduated? So far, they have. I expect that will continue over the next few days. I don't think they're going to give up now.

"You can tell in practice in the drills this morning -- that's the best day of practice [we've had] in those drills. So, to me, that's a sign saying, 'OK, we're going to be all right.'"

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The Saxony Lutheran soccer team reacts during a penalty-kick shootout that sent the Crusaders past St. Vincent in the Class 1 District 1 championship on May 18 in Jackson, Missouri. It was one of the few true tests Saxony has had this season as it tries to defend its state title.Josh Mlot ~ jmlot@semissourian.com

It's early Monday morning and this is the last practice that the team will have on the grounds of Saxony Lutheran High School this season, and for an 11-senior core, the last ever. The session has moved inside the gym, but the drills enforce the same tenets the team preaches out on the field on game day -- keep it simple and minimize touches. There's nothing complicated, just straight-forward passing drills that reinforce controlling the ball and getting rid of it right away. Then it's on to small-sided games, bridging the gap between those fundamentals and what actually happens on game day.

There seems to be little indication that 24 hours later the squad will be on the road to Kansas City to play the final two games of the season -- of careers -- with everything on the line. Even with the company line that any pressure is the motivational kind -- and nothing to indicate the girls don't believe that through and through -- there's no denying that success is like a drug, and the craving for more raises the bar to new levels.

"Of course. [If we don't win a championship] we'd feel like we didn't accomplish everything we could have," senior Grace Mirly says. "We know we can do it because we did it last year, and I feel like if you don't reach the expectations you set for yourself, yeah, you feel like you've failed. Nobody wants to feel that this year."

After his team walked off the field with a trophy in hand last June, Fritsche guaranteed his team would be back, embracing the pressure with open arms.

"Our coaches have so much faith in us and constantly push us to be the best we can be," Daniel says. "Of course there's pressure with that, but it's a good pressure. It's a motivational pressure that wants us to keep constantly working to get better so we can reach that ultimate goal we have for ourselves.

"I think there's always a little bit of pressure. It's always there with the fact we had done it last year and hope to do it again this year. We had done that and reached that goal, so it's, 'What if they don't do it again?' I think there's always a little bit of pressure, but we try to ignore that and just try to focus on ourselves and on our team and do what we know how to do and just ignore everything else."

Fritsche's prophecy was not exactly that of a blind squirrel and his nut. The talent on the field predicates that this is where Saxony Lutheran girls soccer is supposed to be. Mirly, the reigning Class 1 Player of the Year, has 24 goals and 24 assists. Daniel, who wasn't even a part of last week's six-goal output due to a red-card suspension, has another 21 goals. Brune, who has 18 goals and 17 assists, will be playing Division I soccer at Troy next year and is the type of talent -- and soccer mind -- who can be plugged in at any position on the field and be a first-choice player. Raegan Wieser was the 2015 Class 1 Goalkeeper of the Year. Brianna Mueller, Tayla Meyr and Logan Meyr were all All-State first-teamers a season ago. Laurel Mueller is sitting on 15 goals and is coming off a brace against Principia in a performance that easily could have seen three or four goals off her foot.

Then there's the uncanny team chemistry and a coachability -- Fritsche smiles when he hears his players are projecting the same relax-and-keep-it-simple philosophy he preaches -- that has allowed the Crusaders to fight through any rough patches.

"All of us stay after practice to work on things," Daniel says. "All of us go up to teammates and say, 'Oh my gosh, help me with this. I'm not doing well and I need to improve.' I think being mature enough to know you have something to work on is really important. ... We've matured as teammates and players."

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Saxony Lutheran girls soccer coach Garrett Fritsche (standing, left) looks on as his team gathers during halftime of a loss to Jackson on March 29. It is the Crusaders' only defeat of the season thus far.Laura Simon ~ lsimon@semissourian.com

Fritsche admits that his team has not faced the most daunting schedule this season, which may not serve it well at this point in the season. But Saxony Lutheran enters the final four on the heels of two games in which it was reminded of its vulnerability -- a slugfest with St. Vincent in which the district title was determined by penalty kicks, and 6-2 quarterfinal win over Principia that for stretches of the game was not as disparate as the final score might indicate.

Much like his team did last year, the coaching staff gets the sense that the girls may be ready to play their best soccer of the season in Kansas City.

I think [the last two games] flipped a switch with the girls," Fritsche says. "They said, 'OK, we are not doing this again. We are not failing. We are winning.' I think even though we didn't play great, that was the best thing that could happen to us. 'We have to show up and play, or this can happen.' They have a chance to do something that hardly anybody does in high school, going back to back, so I think they're ready."

The Crusaders aren't putting much stock in three wins over Father Tolton in the last two years, including a 5-0 result in last season's title game. There are too many unknowns to feel too comfortable -- key injuries for the Trailblazers last time around, or the way a momentary let-down can change the entire complexion of a game, or the fact that everyone wants to knock off the defending champs.

At the same time, there's an undeniable sense of familiarity compared to a team a year ago who had never reached a final four, and that's a double-edged sword.

"It could be good or bad," Mirly says. "We beat them already and we don't want to think less of them than they are. At this point, everybody's wanting to win. At the same time, we know what to expect and that we can do it, and I think that gives us some comfort and some reassurance that this can be ours."

Familiarity is a trend, as two of three teams joining Saxony in Kansas City -- Father Tolton (12-13) and Trinity Catholic (13-7-2) -- are also making return trips to state. Summit Christian (18-4) is the newcomer. Trinity is in a similar boat as the Crusaders, returning a vast swathe of its 2015 squad.

But none will face the same pressure the Crusaders do.

"I think we have [faced pressure] and I think that's part of the reason why maybe we haven't looked as good as we have last year," Brune says. "I think the attitude's a little different than it was last year as well, but I think if we turn the pressure we feel into energy, then we can be unstoppable."

Saxony Lutheran will face Father Tolton at 2 p.m. today at the Swope Park Soccer Village. Trinity Catholic and Summit Christian play in the earlier semifinal at noon.

The championship will be Thursday at 2 p.m., following the third-place contest at 10 a.m.

[Editor's note: Change made to reflect Saxony Lutheran's correct record as 20-1]