Late red card issued to Belton goalkeeper provides winning lifeline to Platte County

Any issued red card provides the opportunity to alter a match. Rarely, do the circumstances turn so abruptly and decisively.

Playing a third game in three days, Platte County came up with the tying and winning goals in a 3-2 victory in a matter of just minutes after the head referee sent off Belton goalkeeper Thomas Abate for a challenge outside the box. Platte County junior midfielder Abe Norman set up senior defender Aidan Murray for the equalizer off of the ensuing free kick, and moments later, junior midfielder Cameron Habel continued his run of scoring form on a breakaway.

Platte County (6-7) then held Belton — down to 10 players after Abate’s red card — to pick up a a fifth win in Suburban Conference White Division play.

“They fought back and protected their house,” Platte County coach Ashlyn Brantley said. “Right after it, it was a great ball from Abe, and Aidan was there to finish it perfectly. Kudos to them. We needed it, for sure, because that energy and tide turning in our direction got to Belton. We were able to capitalize.”

Platte County went into the matchup coming off of a shootout win over Truman which came on the heels of losses to Pembroke Hill, Kearney and Truman. Through a combination of injuries and other absences, the Pirates were without five regular contributors for an already inexperienced roster. Those out of action included a trio of regular starters — senior forward Tug Thornton, junior forward Jonathan Ibarra and junior midfielder Ian Mathews.

Belton controlled possession early in the conference matchup while Platte County continued the struggle for continuity in the 13th game of the season with only two returning starters available. That duo includes senior goalkeeper Paul Havemeier, who made back-to-back saves early to keep the match scoreless. He first cleverly tipped an unmarked header from Belton’s Michael Clark over the bar then went low at the near post to smother a shot out of bounds for a corner in the 14th minute.

In the 19th minute, Platte County took a 1-0 lead, taking advantage of a quick counterattack with Habel collecting a turnover in the middle of field and setting sophomore forward Camden Noller free on a breakaway. He finished neatly in a one-on-one situation with Abate.

“He’s been playing strong up there, using that body of his,” Brantley said. “Those few chances that we do get in some of these games, it’s nice to know we have someone like him who can finish them.”

The counterattacks using Noller, back from his own time out of the lineup and making a third straight start, were the best offense for Platte County in the first half. He made a similar run in the 32nd minute but saw Abate deflect out a right-footed shot from a tight angle on the right that kept Belton’s deficit at one going into halftime.

Belton then leveled just 3 minutes after the break with Ivan Garcia hitting a long-range, left-footed shot from an awkward spot on the left to beat Havemeier, who couldn’t keep the ball from rolling low into the far side netting.

Platte County then went behind in the 54th minute after conceding a penalty kick on a push in the 18-yard box during a Belton corner kick. Clark stepped to the spot and sent Havemeier to his right while placing the shot to the left of the goalkeeper.

“It was disheartening, but we have confidence in our guys,” Brantley said. “They’ve shown they’re not going to give up, and that’s all we can ask of them.”

The game completely flipped in the 71st minute when Abate came outside of his 18-yard box to try and cut off Platte county junior midfielder Will Babcock in the open field. An awkward challenge took down the player and led to the red card and forced the reserve goalkeeper onto the field with no warmup.

On the free kick from about 25 yards out, Norman chipped in a looping cross with Murray scoring his first career goal with a completely unmarked header at the far left post.

“Telepathy kind of thing, you know?” Murray said of the connection with Norman. “We just kind of had the set piece in mind. I was free in the box, put it in the net.

“It all happened really fast.”

In the 72nd minute, Habel found himself clean through with only Belton’s goalkeeper even close to the play. He slid the shot underneath a sprawling save attempt for his fifth goal in a span of six games after scoring only one in his previous two-plus years in the lineup.

Platte County yielded one wide-open shot for Belton in the 77th minute that went wide but ultimately held on thanks to Habel’s calm finish in a big spot.

“Cam is an elite finisher — lethal, lethal,” Murray said.

Platte County improved to 3-3 in its past six games after a frustratingly slow start to the season with only Havemeier and Habel back from last year’s starting lineup. The backline of Murray, fellow senior Bresner Garcia, junior Wally Baldwin and freshman Kai James-Gallimore plus reserve senior Quinn Traas remained intact, but the replacements were needed in the attack without Thornton, Ibarra and sophomore midfielder Ryan Waldman. Mathews left an additional hole in the defensive portion of the Pirates’ midfield with senior Hasan Alturkmani, juniors Thien Nguyen and Logan Jones and freshman Josiah O’Rourke put into much larger roles.

The extended break ahead of Monday’s road game at Grain Valley was welcome for a Platte County, still trying to fully define an identity with so many new contributors. The Pirates now sit at 4-3 in White Division play.

“We’ve just got to trust each other, and mentally, we’ve just got to prepare each game,” Murray said.

“I’ve gotta give all credit to the players,” Brantley added. “It’s their third game of the week. I know they were tired, and we had to move some things around and they were able to adapt and play where I asked them to. Hopefully, we get all these players back and are able to go and build from there.”

Platte County 1, Truman 1 (5-3 PKs)

The Pirates overcame a one-goal deficit and then went a perfect 5-for-5 in the shootout to capture a White Division win Tuesday at Pirate Stadium.

Platte County went behind 1-0 in the 51st minute but leveled 5 minutes later when Waldman’s cross set up Noller for a goal. The two teams remained tied through the remainder of regulation and two halves of potentially sudden-death overtime.

Platte County converted all five penalty kicks, while Havemeier saved Truman’s fourth. The Patriots missed each of the final two in the loss.

Havemeier made 10 saves total during regulation and overtime.

Kearney 1, Platte County 0

The Bulldogs pinged the match’s only goal into the net 8 minutes after halftime and held on for a nonconference win Monday in Kearney.

Havemeier made three saves, while freshman Jack Gardner made a brief appearance and added one for Platte County, which managed eight shots on goal. The result could be consequential to Class 3 District 8 seeding.