Game 11: TOC vs. Jeff City

30 April at Tournament of Champions in Burlington, Round 1 vs. Jeff City (5-1)

We came out against a very well-coached Jeff City team who put numbers behind the ball, hoping to keep the score at 0-0. With about 6 minutes left in the first half, the score did still stand at 0-0.

We had been trying various combinations, trying to get Jamie free. With Denning playing underneath her with got a nice combination from Meyers to Denning to Kutey that broke the game open. Just before half Tyler found Jamie again, only to see her taken down inside the box for a PK. That event gave us a nice 2-0 lead at half.

Now we did give up an early goal in the second half that cut that lead to 1, but Jamie quickly cashed before we added a corner and a t-ball to build the score to 5-1. Sophomore Anna Woltering not only earned us the corner Holmes cashed, but she got herself to the baseline to tee Heying's goal. 

Overall we thought we had a nice debut for the tourney. We pushed our record in this tournament to 7-3 lifetime.  We will now play Kearney, the team we played last year for the championship back in Kansas City.  

I know we did eat at Pizza Ranch, but we really enjoyed the solid play from so many different girls today even more than that fine meal. And this is a Jefferson City team that beat LS North 2-0 this season and returns all but one player from its 3rd place finish in the Missouri Big Class. 

BWhite named Jamie as the BWhite Player of the Match, a decision Top Drawer probably agreed with as they noted her play yesterday as one of the Top 2 Performances of the entire tourney. They also note Addie Denning and Olivia Meyers in their write-up. 

Top Drawer Overview of TOC

Top Drawer Summary of First Day Results

Top Drawer Noteworthy Performances
Stats: First Half:  Saints: 8 (5)  Corners: 2 (Petty, Kutey)

4:58 Kutey (Denning finds Jamie on the turn)

1:48 Meyers (Kutey taken down in the box)

Jeff City: Shots: 1 (0) Corners: 0

Second Half: Saints: Shots 4 (4)  Corners: 2 (Woltering, Kwap)

28:30 Kutey (single-handed attack)

19:59 Holmes (Woltering earns the Meyers' corner that she bends right)

17:14 Heying (Woltering T's it through the Kwap dummy)

Jeff City: Shots: 3 (3) Corners: 0

30:08 Hoogvele (We reverse the ball in our own back third with #4 picking it off and going to goal)

Game 10 EKL at Bishop Miege

28 April at Bishop Miege (3-0)

The halftime score of 3-0 stood.  All three of our goals were nice goals.  Two of them came in the closing minutes of the first half with the other at the beginning of the first half. So we held pretty true to Taylor's encouraging us to make use of the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes of those halves.

Miege was missing their big-time offensive player, so perhaps holding them to a solo shot for the match does come with some buts, but still it was a pretty solid lockdown defensive performance by a lot of kids.

BWhite named Molly Schmidt the BWhite Player of the Match, and yes she might have played some pretty stellar defense for the game, but I think B was noticing all of those forward runs she made from the right back position and all of those dangerous situations that she created with her passing game (Take the 3rd goal for example).

Miege did do a great job of limiting our opportunities. We only got two shots off in the second half, although we did generate 5 corners. Miege should head on to win the 4A state title, and we wish them well.

We do move to 3-1 in the league with 3 to go after our National tournament this weekend.  We wanted to start the week with a nice win and we did. So now we need to build on this to put together a great weekend.

STATS: 

First Half: Saints: Shots: 5 (4) Corners: 0

36:13 Holmes (Romme throws over Schmidt for the Meyers T-ball)

6:12 Kutey (Holmes chips the flat line)

0:51 Romme (Kutey T's it off the pass from Schmidt

Stags: Shots: 0 Corners: 0

Second Half:

Saints: Shots 2 (1) Corners: 5 (Heying, Romme 2, Kutey, Holmes)

Stags: Shots: 1 (1) Corners: 0

Game 9: PinkOut 2015

24 April Friday at STA vs. St. James for PinkOut Trophy (4-1)

Well, this is always a great event. It's BWhite's brainchild, but it requires a lot of work from our coordinators (Mrs. Schmidt and Mrs. Kwapiszeski) and all of the girls in the program.  This weekend features WigsOut and PinkOut along with Walk for Life. So Saint Thomas Aquinas was All-in on community-wide service projects this week into the weekend.

The game itself went 0-0 until about 10 minutes left in the half. We then generated a couple of goals from our center midfielders that started with a throw-in, a point of emphasis.

We added an early goal in the second half on a great 2-man corner with a Kutey back-post finish. St. James did get it to 3-1 before Jamie added her second goal (again starting from a throw-in) to make it 4-1, the score where it ended.

We did play 23 girls tonight, so that was nice to see so many kids get on the field for this huge game. 

And how about Macen, marching the trophy in, and then presenting the trophy to the girls as the 2015 PinkOut Champs!

It is always nice to see alums back at the game like Ben Moss, Spencer Driscoll and Skylar Martin. Kevin Perz was in the house as well. I just love this event. I know Coach Wilson has made the freshmen mixer, including kids from both schools a part of this as well. Generally that baby is outside, but tonight weather (other than the Thunder) was supposed to show up as well.

BWhite named Olivia Meyers as the White Player of the Match; yes, she got a key goal right before half, but she was just a beast in the middle all night. 

We have to give a shoutout to Kristina Colling, for it has been a long time since she donned a STA jersey. She had two nice first half shifts, coming back from months of rehab. She was good.

STATS: First Half: Saints: Shots: 7 (4) Corners 1 (Woltering)

9:28 Holmes (Romme runs the throw-in and then 1-touches the ball into the mix for a Meyers shot before the rebound)

0:59 Meyers (Sesti pushes it down field for the Romme T-ball that Jamie dummies into the finish)

St. James: Shots:1 (1) Corner: 1 (Woltering)

Second Half: Saints: Shots 5 (3) Corners: 4 (Geiger, Schmidt, Meyers, Pigott)

30:13 Kutey (Denning and Meyers run 2-man with Meyers finding the back post)

16:23 Kutey (Pigott chips the t-ball over the line for the finish after the Romme throw-in (Jamie's volley is not bad))

St. James: Shots: 2 (1) Corners: 1

17:09 Keyes (Cross into the box as we get sucked so far ball side, not keeping back post shape, without a defensive center in the box or regular center midfielder defending the middle of the field)

NB: Sophomore Caroline Romme was part of 3 of the 4 goals.

Game 8: EKL vs. BV Southwest

21 April vs. BV Southwest at Southwest (1-2 OT)

Well we knew we would be in a close match tonight, as we thought both teams would have limited opportunities to score.

I have always liked Southwest's midfield, but I really thought that Meyers and Holmes played well tonight.  And that point on the diamond, Marge Pigott, just played fantastically. In fact, she claimed her second BWhite Player of the Game honors. She did score what could have been the game-winning goal if I could coach a little better or if a side official would share my belief that if 3 players are standing inside the 6-box in an offsides position that they are involved in the play.

We battled to a scoreless first half. Now they did create 4 dangerous corner kick situations that we escaped, but overall they did not get much built towards goal. We also established three corners, but our services were off tonight. 

The second half was quite similar, but we were generating some corners and getting some balls down to the baseline. They had cleared one of these balls but Molly Schmidt d'ed it back in for some nifty footwork from Pigott as she got it touched by a defender and by the keeper.

I should have added a second defensive midfielder after that, but for whatever reason (stupidity?) I did not. With about 9 minutes to go Southwest struck for another great corner opportunity.  We just did a great job (I think it was Tyler) of heading the dangerous ball back out.  Southwest runs a similar re-corner to ours and one of their girls played a beautiful ball back in to the back post, just like we do. They crashed the post for a nice half-volley that Allyiah touched (wow, does she have quick hands) off the post and in. We were so far away I figured we just did not get off the posts, but unfortunately we video all the games. Wow. I think 3-4 players are offsides (or should I say in an offsides position when the ball is played back on). But great ball, great finish.

We would like to see us get a little more done up top and wide, but overall we played a pretty solid match. We will obviously see Southwest again in post season.

Tonight was just a great high school soccer match. They did end it quickly and nicely in overtime as their last goal was well, stunning.

STATS: First Half: Saints: Shots: 0  Corners: 3 (Romme, Kwap, Reynolds)

Southwest: Shots: 3 (1) Corners: 4

Second Half: Saints:  Corners: 2 (Miller, Romme)

19:00 Pigott (Schmidt plays a d-ball in)

Southwest:

9:33 #4 (Corner is cleared but played back in to the back post)

7:45 OT #6 (Great cross to the back post for a one-touch center and a one-touch finish.)

Game 7: Catholic Challenge vs. Divine Savior

18 April vs. Divine Savior (2-0) at Aquinas in the Catholic Challenge

Divine Savior gave us a very physical soccer match, tackling Jamie hard and often.  She still managed to nab the BWhite Player of the Match Award as she came away with both of our goals in the first half. We led 2-0 after twenty minutes, and there it stayed. Kwap was the other constant in the goals as she was involved in both. She found Holmes on the first and Romme on the second with a dramatic slide tackle of the ball away and onto Romme's foot.

Overall our defense was pretty solid.  Reynolds also got hit pretty hard a couple of times and she ended up missing most of the second half. But we got solid play from both Moss and Pasley in the back to go along with stellar games from Tyler, Crow and Schmidt.

We were really tested defensively in the middle of the field where they played 5 with only 3 in the back. For the most part we held up pretty well.  They did cause us some problems defending them in the middle. 

All in all it was a very good weekend.  Unfortunately we only have a couple of days to heal up with BV Southwest this coming Tuesday.  It will be a large EKL match, not to mention a preview of postseason.

STATS: First Half: Shots: 5 (3) Corners: 0

25:05 Kutey (Kwap drops the ball to Holmes for the long through ball over)

21:37 Kutey (Kwap slide tackles the ball away to Romme who continues it to Jamie)

Divine Savior: Shots: 1(0) Corners: 1

Second Half:  Saints:  Shots: 5 (4) Corners: 3 (Kutey 3)

Divine Savior: Shots: 2 (1)  Corners: 0

*Historical note: Jamie's 2 goals in this match, against the #15 team in the country, moved her past STA-great, Bridget Darby, giving Kutey 72 total goals in her STA history.

Game 6: Catholic Challenge vs. Kapaun-Mt. Carmel

17 April vs. Kapaun (3-0)

Well, this yearly match highlighted two players who were playing in their first varsity matches: Meg Loughman and Caroline Romme. Both were superb. Besides being good soccer players, both these girls bring some special athleticism and some grittiness. 

Meg just missed scoring twice, first filling the slot to drive a t-ball right at the keeper. Later on she just missed a smash to the upper right of the goal.

Now Caroline, selected White Player of the Match, defined grittiness on two corner kicks.  We did a great job of keeping the corner alive until Romme finished two of them. Those were big goals.

Calvert went wire-to-wire in goal allowing us to play back through her feet and out.  She played with confidence all match.

Kapaun played well but really were not dangerous for the most part. They showed some attack right before half. As we gathered at half with the score only 1-0 and with Kapuan taking some serious momentum into half, we thought we might well be in for a battle.  

But we were strong all second half, virtually allowing nothing. And with us cashing a couple of corners, the game seemed locked away midway through the second.

We finished the evening with a great group meal with all of the Kapaun players and parents.  We have been very blessed to have been able to carry this series on for all these years. The Holmes were instrumental in organizing and making this after-game event happen this year. Thanks so much.


STATS: First Half: Shots: 7 (3) Corners: 1 (Romme)

3:24 Kutey (Denning drops to Holmes who goes long over the top)

Kapaun: Shots: 3 (1) Corners: 0

Second Half: Saints: Shots: 9 (5) Corners: 4 (Kutey 2, Romme, Schmidt)

24:56 Romme (Reynolds bends it in but Schmidt heads it back in)
8:17 Romme (Reynolds serves the corner in with Romme getting a couple of good touches before directing it far post)

Game 5 vs. BV North

14 April at SwiDAC in EKL vs. BV North (5-0)

Well, the BWhite Player of the Match, Olivia Meyers, returned to action tonight, and with her came some very good Saint soccer.  Olivia got us forward, weak side, and herself up to the "T." She and many others had very good matches.

We have spent the last 10 days practicing as we have been off for some time. Tonight made it seem worth it as we pinged the ball around, seemed dangerous, and shutdown North defensively. 

We scored a minute into the match on a screaming deadball from Taylor Reynolds that Jamie finished back post. Later on in the first half Reynolds added another goal on her nice corner kick to the front post that Styler manipulated past the keeper and a front-post defender.

And yes it ended there at 2-0 for the first half, but we had generated several other great goal scoring opportunities as well.

Second half our play stayed at the level where we pinged it around nicely, yet got forward quickly. It was just nice to watch the girls enjoy playing. Tonight was fun.

It was a breakout match for Anna Woltering as well with her handling the swing position very, very well. Getting that position to work with the strong midfield play from Meyers, Holmes and Denning created opportunities.

Marge was large as well, getting her first varsity goal in her career. Congrats.

And our defense allowed the Mustangs only one shot second half to go along with a skimpy 3 from the first half.

We are excited to get a chance to play two out-of-town schools this weekend,a weekend that will begin Friday night against Kapaun and culminate on Saturday at 1:00 with a match against #14-in-the-country, Divine-Savior out of Milwaukee.

STATS: First Half:

Saints: Shots 11 (5) Corners: 5 (Kutey 3, Myers, Reynolds)

38:59 Kutey (Reynolds puts the deadball on a line back post.)

19:30 Tyler (Reynolds bends the ball into the near post for the head-flick.)

Mustangs: Shots: 3 (1) Corners: 0

Second Half

Saints:  Shots 12 (7) Corners: 5 (Denning, Kwap 2, Geiger, Petty) 

37:54 Kutey (Meyers pushes it forward with Jamie taking it from there)

35:09 Pigott (Woltering's T-ball leads to Marge following the block on her own shot)

22:57 Kutey (Kwap 1-touches it forward for Jamie who spins and shoots)

Mustangs:  Shots: 1 (0) Corners: 0

Game 4: MO-KAN 3rd Place Match

4 April vs. St. Teresa's for 3rd Place at MO-KAN (0-2)

We just played a great defensive half against the wind, highlighted by a diving Calvert save as time expired. Hania Crow took on the honors (with a little relief from Bridget Linder) of handling Dorian Bailey. She handled her first half and then she handled her second half.

We did not, however, handled Kitts very well.  

We did come out very well to start the second half, generating 3 good chances in those first few minutes. Unfortunately, we got broken down in a very similar manner to how we have been getting broken down at the beginning of the second half.

Our right side of the field is so far up when we lose the ball. If we already have a center midfielder and a underneath mid defending that sideline, we do not seem need our right-side backs up so far, as it is a long run back. As you watch the video for this goal we can see Reynolds and Tyler pull all the way over to destroy the first attempt, helped by a nice retracement run by Holmes, but we do not seem to get other middle refills fast enough to blow up the follow-up shot. But Kitts hits a very good shot to the back post. So she gets most of the credit.

We still found some opportunities to even the score, but when we gave up that second goal later in the half, we seemed to finalize the result. Kitts gets a shot off from the "D"/Top-of-the-Box area here.  We dive at midfield and then allow a little too much room in front of Kitts, allowing her to get a pretty good shot off. Allyia just misses the ball as she dives even though she is somewhat screened off by one of our defenders. Anyway one was enough.

Overall we played a pretty solid match missing 2 key starters.  We all tip our hats to the first-half performance against the wind.  We almost needed to be perfect defensively for the match, and that is not likely to happen against a very talented Teresa's team. I mean, hey, we took one shot the entire match. We did create 5 corners and a couple of low deadballs that did offer us scoring opportunities. But still we are playing for a 1-0 game or perhaps a shootout at 1-1 or 0-0. 

And keep in mind that Teresa's took only 2 shots all second half and scored 2 goals. That is a solid performance all over the field by a lot of Saints.

Congrats to All Tournament selections Sarah Tyler and Jamie Kutey. (Sarah Tyler was also the BWhite Player of the Match). 

We are off for awhile, so hopefully we get some players back and we tweak some things with some practice.

STATS: 

First Half:  Saints: Shots: 0  Corners: 2 (Kutey and Reynolds)

Teresa's: Shots 12 (5) Corners: 3

Second Half:  Saints: Shots: 1 (1) Corners: 3 (Kutey 1, Reynolds 2)

Teresa's: Shots 2 (2)

33:23 Kitts

17:54 Kitts

Game 3: LS North

1 April: Mo-Kan Semi-Finals vs. LS North (0-1)

The tournament was set up nicely for us as we just needed to defeat a solid LS North squad who would have trouble scoring much. Just before warm-ups we found out that we would not have the services of Olivia Meyers, a senior center midfielder who has been playing very well.

So Holmes moved to offensive center midfielder and Crow moved to defensive center midfield with Moss starting at centerback.  All in all those moves did plug the hole, but they also took away a lot of the way we build an attack.

We did create 2-3 nice scoring chances in the first half that we did not finish. Jamie hit the post as well. Not cashing one of those compounded into more difficulty when we allowed a very weak goal to start off the second half.

That is our second straight match where we have not been good early in the second half.  We have got to come up with some better halftime talks.

Addie Denning was the BWhite Player of the Match as she really gave us 75 great minutes at center midfield.  Many of her passes lead to the creation of one of those 6 first-half corners. (I believe after three games we have created 23-4 corners without scoring a single goal.)

Hats off to the Broncos for holding us to zero to make that early second-half goal stand.

They will now take on BV Northwest for the title, and we will battle St. Teresa for the right to say we won third place.

STATS:

First Half:

Saints: Shots: 13 (6) Corners 6 (Kutey 2, Schmidt 2, Petty, Geiger)

LS North: Shots: 2 (0) Corners 1

Second Half

Saints: Shots: 2 (0) Corners: 1

LS North: Shots: 4 (3) Corners: 1

36:07 Chapman (flicks up the ground cross to position herself for the shot)