KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A year ago, Saxony Lutheran girls soccer coach Garrett Fritsche guaranteed his team would be back for another state championship. That confidence never wavered.
On Thursday his team repaid that confidence, dropping Trinity Catholic 1-0 in the MSHSAA Class 1 Championship at Swope Park Soccer Village.
“There’s been times where there’s pressure,” Fritsche said. “You’ve got to question whether or not I made the right move. But I never went into a game or a situation thinking, ‘This could be it.’”
This time it is “it,” but the Crusaders (22-1) went out on their own terms, getting a 45th-minute goal from senior captain Maddie Brune to get the slight edge they needed to put away the Titans (14-8-2) and win back-to-back state titles.
Three of the last four Class 1 champions have been of the back-to-back variety — Saxony (2015-16), Duchesne (2013-14) and Springfield Catholic (2010-11).
Winning No. 2 was nothing like the first one for the Crusaders, with a back-and-forth first half and moments that could have easily flipped the game on its head. But Saxony characteristically got better in the second half, taking a close contest and grabbing control.
“I think it makes it worth so much more, having to work that hard and be able to pull it off,” Brune said. “That’s the best game I could have asked for to be a state championship game.”
Though only one goal separated the sides, the Crusaders out-shot Trinity 18-4, not allowing a shot in the second half.
“It’s definitely nerve-wracking when it’s a big game and a really tight game,” Saxony Lutheran senior goalkeeper Raegan Wieser said. “Definitely that second half, I didn’t touch the ball a whole lot, and that’s what I love. I love watching my team pass it around and keep possession. I mean, it’s a great game for me to watch.”
Wieser made three saves to maintain the clean sheet, but the biggest stop may have come from her right post.
The first 40 minutes saw the teams trade possession and attacking pressure, and in the 39th minute Trinity midfielder Katie Leonard smacked a shot from the right wing that sailed toward the far post, ringing off the metal and bouncing into the box to be cleared away.
“She had it out on the wing and we were shifting over so no one was on her yet,” Wieser said. “I thought she was going to cross it. At my angle I didn’t really think it was going to go in, and it’s just one of those things where it was that close. If it was just a little farther it could have gone in. My team did a great job of clearing it out. It’s one of those things. It sucks for them, but it’s good for us.”
Instead of a critical first goal, the game went into halftime scoreless.
“It’s huge. That completely changes everything,” Fritsche said. “We could have been down one going into half. That is a whole new ball game right there. Maybe we would have stepped it up even more. ... I’d trust in them even if we were down that they’d dig deep and figure it out.”
Trailing or not, Saxony Lutheran flipped the switch at halftime, much as it did the previous day in its semifinal.
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The Crusaders pushed Brune up top on the right, into a forward role she doesn’t normally play. Her presence in that position immediately changed how the game was played.
In the 44th minute her attacking pressure forced a corner kick, on which Brianna Mueller sent the ball to the top of the 6-yard box. Brune got to it but was unable to make clean contact. As she shielded off a trio of defenders on her back, she didn’t miss the second time, easily knocking the ball across the goal line for a 1-0 lead on the Crusaders’ first shot of the second half.
The critical first goal had been had.
“It was really exciting, and I think it gave us even more motivation to keep going and keep striving,” Saxony Lutheran senior Tess Daniel said. “We’re ahead, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They could answer with one right back. It gave us more intensity, too. They’re going to want to score too now, so we have to give 110 percent so they can’t and we can keep the intensity up.”
The only time Trinity had a sniff the rest of the way was on a 60th-minute free kick from about 17 yards high on the left side of the penalty area, but the shot was sent into the side netting.
The first 40 minutes were not as lopsided, as neither team could gain an upper hand, and Saxony again seemed just a step off. Whether it was a turnover in the midfield or the inability to put a good shot on frame, the Crusaders were stymied by a Trinity Catholic side that was organized and set up to frustrate its opponent and strike while the iron was hot.
It turned out aluminum was hotter, as the post stopped the Titans’ best opportunity of the half.
Saxony’s best opportunity came seconds later, when a corner kick in the half’s waning moments found two Crusader heads before Grace Mirly got her head to it to put it on frame, but Trinity goalkeeper Jessica Eaton made a save under heavy duress.
On the next shot Saxony took, Eaton was not so lucky.
“I think it’s definitely one of the best teams we’ve played all year. ... They came to play today,” Mueller said. “Every move they were making out there was a state championship move, and I think we matched that really well, especially in the second half.
“There’s no feeling like a state championship. There’s no feeling like losing a state championship, but there’s also no feeling like winning a state championship. That’s something I’ll never forget.”
Saxony Lutheran 1, Trinity Catholic 0
Second Half
1. Maddie Brune, SL, (Brianna Mueller), 44:16
Shots: Saxony Lutheran 18, Trinity Catholic 4
Saves: Saxony Lutheran (Raegan Wieser) 3, Trinity Catholic (Jessica Eaton) 11
Corner kicks: Saxony Lutheran 6, Trinity Catholic 0
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