Kassen’s goal, 2 assists fuel Platte County’s offensive breakthrough vs. Kearney

KEARNEY, Mo. — A road trip with a chance to avenge an early season loss to a rival provided a perfect opportunity.

Platte County needed a shot of confidence and bolted to a three-goal lead before holding on for a 4-2 victory over Kearney on Monday at Kearney High School. The Pirates lost the first five games of the season with just one goal scored in that span before breaking out with goals from senior Sloan Kassen, junior Carmen Gentilia and sophomores Lily Kytasaari and Rylee Burris.

The 0-5 start included a 1-0 loss to Kearney in seventh-place game of the Platte County Invitational. The Pirates went scoreless in all three games of their home tournament and tallied the only goal prior to Monday in a 2-1 loss to Smithville four days earlier.

Platte County ended up going 3-0 on the week with an 8-0 shellacking of Raytown on Tuesday and a 4-0 win at William Chrisman on Thursday in Independence — both in Suburban Conference White Division play. The momentum all started with the needed breakthrough against Kearney.

“We really needed this,” said Kassen, who scored late in the first half and added assists on Kytasaari’s opener and Burris’ strike early in the second half that put Platte County up 3-0. “It’s going to keep us going.”

Platte County (3-5) endured most of the early pressure but eventually scored the opener somewhat against the run of play.

In the 16th minute, Kassen broke down the left side and played a cross on the ground that managed to drift nearly all the way across the 18-yard box. Kytasaari came charging in to the backrest to easily touch the ball into the net past Kearney’s goalkeeper.

The scoring connection gave Platte County its first lead in any game this season.

“I knew she would (get there),” Kassen said.

Building on the 1-0 lead, Platte County started to control not only possession but the scoring chances. Kytasaari nearly added a second in the 24th minute but saw a left-footed shot from inside the 18-yard box deflected out for a corner kick, one of three potentially opportunistic set pieces the Pirates didn’t take advantage of in the earlygoing.

Moments later, Platte County junior Marissa Orellana found space again down the left sideline before cutting into the box, only to have Kearney’s goalkeeper come off her line and slide out to make a critical save. The Pirates’ 2-0 lead ended up coming as a result of a disastrous back pass from Kearney that Kassen tracked down in the box, taking an initial touch around the goalkeeper that appeared heavy and likely to send the ball out of bounds for a goal kick.

Instead, Kassen raced to the end line and tapped the ball into an empty net from an extremely tight and difficult angle.

“I thought I was going to have to slide for the ball, but I got it and made it,” she said. “Like we say, sacrifice your body, and I was about to sacrifice my body to get it in (the net).”

Platte County used another mistake to take the 3-0 lead in the 47th minute. Off a turnover, Orellana started a lightning quick break that ended with Kassen playing a dangerous diagonal through ball that Burris, currently receiving starts at forward as veteran coach Ashlyn Brantley tinkers with lineups and substitutions, latched onto with a one-time left-footed shot.

Kearney’s goalkeeper managed a glancing touch, but the ball trickled into the net for the 3-0 lead.

The comfortable advantage would not last.

Just a minute later, Kearney freshman Josie Sparks struck back, taking advantage of a defensive lapse from Platte County’s backline, which featured a rotation of starting center backs Cosette Stephenson and Alex Beeman plus left and right backs Madison Palmer, Annabel Beeman and Kaelyn Bellach.

Within 3-1, Kearney settled back into a spell of possession and forced Platte County into counterattacking offense. The Pirates nearly went back up three goals in the 56th minute when sophomore midfielder Giada Cucchiara played a clever ball over the top to Burris, who skied her shot from a promising spot in front of net.

In the 72nd minute, Platte County committed a handball in the far corner of the 18-yard box to gift Kearney a lifeline, and Bulldogs freshman Addison Fischer calmly stepped up and buried the spot kick low and to the right past diving Pirates sophomore goalkeeper Finley Kaser.

“We like to keep people on their toes,” Kassen quipped.

Needing to hold for 8 minutes to avoid overtime, Platte County put the match away in the 77th minute when Gentilia, coming off the bench after opening the season as a starter, won a loose ball int eh box and fired a right-footed shot under pressure into the right side netting to provide the game’s final goal.

“I feel like the whole second half was a struggle for us, even after our goal,” Brantley said. “I think the girls knew they had to keep fighting because they weren’t giving up so we had to make sure we continued to work. We had our chances; they had theirs, but it was nice to know we kept creating ours even after ending up in some bad situations.”

Still yet to record a cleansheet at that point, Platte County did avoid giving up an early goal, a negative trend plaguing the opening five-game losing streak. Kaser came up with three of her four saves in the first half, and the initial one came on a reactionary punch to send a well-struck free kick from an awkward angle on the left over the bar.

Kearney tested Kaser twice more with the score still at 1-0, and she went low in the 29th minute to deny a clear-cut chance from in tight.

“She had some awesome saves,” Brantley said. “Even in the second half, she was right there for us. We have confidence in her in that goal and in those positions, and she just proved herself.”

While trying find the preferred lineup in replacing six starters from last season, Platte County has seen encouraging performances from Kassen, who had two of the first five goals of the season, and Kytasaari, a second-year starter. She mishit a shot from 21 yards out in acres of space in the ninth minute turned a quick throw-in from Beeman in the 36th minute into a looping cross that created a back-post shot for Kassen.

With the offense finding form, Platte County’s defense then turned in back-to-back shutouts to create a three-game winning streak and a 2-0 start in conference play. The Pirates return to White Division action at home Tuesday against Belton before a nonconference road game at Central (St. Joseph) on Friday.

“That confidence, we need that,” Brantley said. “We need them to be excited and motivated to keep going out there even if the games don’t go our way. We still have to come out here and work and create those (offensive) opportunities. We’ve been working on finishing a lot, and it’s nice to know it’s finally paying off and hopefully throughout the season it’s not just one player creating all the goals and we have multiple options every game.”

Platte County 8, Raytown 0

The Pirates won a second straight Tuesday in conference play at Pirate Stadium, scoring five times in the second half to invoke the eight-goal rule in the 66th minute.

Orellana put up four straight goals between the 23rd minute in the first half and the 55th minute of the second half. Her first increased Platte County’s lead to 3-0. She added her second in the 43rd minute on a cross from Kassen, completed the hat trick seven minute later on a penalty kick and capped her career day by slotting home a shot off of a through ball from Kytasaari, who finished with three assists.

Platte County sophomore midfielder Lauren Stone also broke through with a hat trick, scoring goals in the 17th, 65th and 66th minute, including the game-winner. Kassen and Kytasaari assisted the final two goals. Burris scored the game’s opener in the third minute.

Platte County 4, William Chrisman 0

The Pirates’ third conference win of the week came Thursday with four second-half goals in Independence.

After holding Platte County in check during a scoreless first half, William Chrisman opened the scoring by turning the ball into its own net on a cross from junior midfielder Addison Sloan in the 47th minute. The Pirates then slowly pulled way on goals from Stone (56th minute), Sloan (67th minute) and Kassen (71st minute). Kassen also recorded an assist on Sloan’s goal, while Burris had the assist on Stone’s and Stone set up Kassen’s late insurance goal.

Kaser made a pair of saves in her second straight clean sheet after not facing a shot two days earlier against Raytown.