Essentially needing to replace an entire defense from a year ago, Platte County again utilized creativity in determining this year’s goalkeeper. The Pirates’ baseball team again became the recruiting ground.
Platte County senior goalkeeper Jordan Hedrick looks upfield after collecting the ball in a Park Hill Kickoff Classic match with Park Hill on Wednesday at Park Hill District Stadium in Riverside.
Platte County senior Jordan Hedrick, who has not been out for soccer since prior to high school, joined up, won the starting role and found himself in a big spot right off the bat. He saved a pair of penalty kicks in the fifth-place game of the Park Hill Kickoff Classic on Thursday night at Park Hill District Stadium in Riverside. The stops were good enough to earn the Pirates a 6-5 victory after a scoreless regulation with Van Horn.
After dropping a first round game to Blue Springs South, Platte County rallied for back-to-back victories to close the week, receiving strong tests in a departure from the normal season-opening tournament. The Pirates have normally participated in the Barstow Tournament to open the schedule but made the switch and played a pair of Class 4 opponents plus Class 3 Van Horn, a potential playoff opponent in the current postseason format.
The matchup with Van Horn didn’t include any goals, and the rules of the tournament sent the match directly to penalty kicks.
Platte County seniors Aaron Cordova, Mark Wiesehan, and Felix Victore and juniors Gavin Nichols, Connor Currence and AJ Schrick all converted penalties as the shootout went seven rounds. Hedrick, who made six saves in regulation for his first career clean sheet, made the second stop in the seventh round to deliver the victory.
A year earlier, Platte County recorded 18 clean sheets in 24 matches with three seniors on the backline and Patrick Sullivan at goalkeeper. Sullivan started three years at that spot, also pulled over from the baseball team to become a valuable contributor to a pair of 20-win seasons.
Platte County junior midfielder Connor Currence dribbles around a Park Hill defender during a Park Hill Kickoff Classic match Wednesday at Park Hill District Stadium in Riverside.
Platte County 2, Park Hill 1
The Pirates scored twice in the second half in a comeback win over the hosts Wednesday night at Park Hill District Soccer Stadium in Riverside.
Cordova, who started as a freshman at Platte County before transferring away for two years and back this fall for his senior season, tallied his first two goals of the season in the 59th and 75th minutes. Both were unassisted, and the later one became the winner and avoided a penalty shootout.
Park Hill took a 1-0 lead into halftime and held the advantage until the equalizer midway through the second half. Hedrick made four saves total.
Blue Springs South 3, Platte County 1
Cordova also tallied the first goal of the season for the Pirates in the first half Tuesday at Park Hill Hill High School in Kansas City, but Blue Springs South scored three unanswered to earn the first round win.
Originally scheduled for Monday but postponed a day due to thunderstorms that night, Platte County started fast with Currence’s goal, but the match was tied 1-1 at halftime. Blue Springs South had the only offense in the second half to send the Pirates into the consolation bracket.
