The trajectory of Platte County’s first-ever Suburban Conference White Division matchup changed almost the instance a fortuitous offsides flag went up. Just minutes later, Pirates junior forward Gavin Nichols opened his account for the season with an easy finish at the back post, and he came up with a second shortly after to start what became a runaway.
Platte County junior midfielder Ahoy Victore follows the ball into the box against Raytown on Thursday at Pirate Stadium.
Platte County went from potentially playing from behind Thursday at Pirate Stadium to runaway 5-0 shutout of Raytown.
“It changed pretty quick, and I think their heads went down a little bit and our confidence started to come out and show a little bit more,” Platte County coach Ashlyn Brantley said.
Nichols came into the year as the top returning scorer for Platte County from a 20-win season, but he didn’t tally his first until the Pirates were down a pair of key starters.
Platte County forward Aaron Cordova, a starter on the 2019 Class 3 state runnerup team, transferred back for his forward season and commanded the majority of scoring opportunities in the first four games. He didn’t play against Raytown due to a nagging quad injury, and a new-look defense went deeper into the roster with senior Joseph Ibarra unavailable while serving a suspension for a red card picked up two days earlier in a loss to Staley.
Behind Nichols’ two first half goals, Platte County led 2-0 at halftime, and junior forward Josh Nelson, starting in place of Cordova, added two goals in the second half, while junior reserve Andrew Reinsch capped the scoring in the 63rd minute. The Pirates stuck with a three-man backline look that featured senior Mark Wiesehan, freshman Jackson Goodale and junior Daniel Bunge starting at right back for Ibarra.
Platte County junior defender Daniel Bunge prepares to hit a clearance Thursday against Raytown at Pirate Stadium.
“It’s always a good thing as a coach to have that depth and have those players you can go to,” Brantley said. “With us being ahead, we were able to get some other guys in there and have them play in different spots. I got a good look at what some of these guys might be able to do.”
Platte County (3-2) absorbed some early pressure on first-year senior goalkeeper Jordan Hedrick, a recruit from the Pirates’ baseball team.
Raytown caused problems through the speed of senior Mazigh Hamchaoui and junior Kion Martin. Hedrick faced three shots in the first seven minutes and went down to turn away a well-struck ball from Hamchaoui in the seventh minute. Hedrick ended up making five saves before giving way to sophomore Paul Havemeier to finish off the Pirates’ second cleansheet of the season.
Having not been out for soccer in high school, Hedrick continued to pass early tests that included two penalty kick saves in a shootout last week to cap the Park Hill Kickoff Classic.
“It is trial by fire, but that’s going to be the season for us this year,” Brantley said. “We’re not going to have those types of games where we can just ease into it so he’s an athletic kid and he’s proven to be an even better goalkeeper. We’re happy to have him back there and know we can depend on him to make those saves.”
Platte County junior forward Gavin Nichols celebrates with teammates following a first half goal Thursday against Raytown at Pirate Stadium.
Platte County’s reconfigured defense — already featuring three new starters — settled down, and the Pirates started to create chances of their own. In the eighth minute, Platte County senior Felix Victore wound up behind the Raytown defense but fired a promising shot from 15 yards out over the bar. Six minutes later, Nichols curled a right-footed shot from 21 yards out on the left just wide of the far post, as the match remained scoreless.
Victore’s next chance ended up a toe-poke shot from inside the box that stayed wide left of the post.
Having not taken advantage of opportunities, Raytown appeared to take a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute when Martin’s long free kick found junior Angel Castillo unmarked at the back post for a tap-in goal. As the Blue Jays celebrated, the assistant referee’s flag went up for offsides to negate the opening tally.
Three minutes later, Platte County freshman right midfielder Cameron Habel sent a cross in from the right hand side that Raytown junior goalkeeper Marco Estrada misplayed. The ball wound up at Nichols’ feet, and he calmly collected and hammered a shot into an empty net to make it 1-0.
“We weren’t keeping up like we should have, but we weren’t playing them as smart as we should have at the same time,” Brantley said of the early struggles on defense. “I think we were a little disorganized on that front, and once we were able to organize it a little bit and then especially having our mids coming back to help it made us that much better. And we started denying the passes to those fast guys.”
Platte County doubled the lead through Nichols in the 27th minute when junior midfielder Ahoy Victore played him clean through for a breakaway. Nichols took his right-footed shot early and banged the shot in off of Estrada’s chest to make it 2-0.
Platte County junior midfielder AJ Schrick dribbles away from a Raytown defender on Thursday at Pirate Stadium.
The lead held into halftime, but not long after the break, Nelson struck for the first time.
Platte County speedy junior midfielder AJ Schrick nudged the ball forward off of a throw-in into the path of Nelson, who quickly sent a right-footed shot into the net for a 3-0 lead in the 44th minute. He scored his second after winning a race to a long lob forward from Felix Victore, reaching the ball first and sliding a shot past Estrada before sliding into the goalkeeper and knocking his glasses to the turf.
Nichols helped set up the final goal with a long shot deflected off a Raytown defender that led to a poor clearance from the Blue Jays. The ball eventually settled to Reinsch, who came away with his first career goal and the capper on the dominant 5-0 victory.
“We talked about (Nelson’s) runs in the first half, and he came through second half and changed them up and listened and went right out there to work,” Brantley said. “If it wasn’t working (in buildup), we forced the hand and did a good job pressuring.”
Platte County returns to non conference action Monday vs. Liberty North before continuing White Division play Wednesday at home against Belton. The Pirates finished as co-champion of the Blue Division last season with Smithville but has a whole new slate of eight conference games this year.
Staley 2, Platte County 1
The two teams went into halftime tied, but the Falcons tallied the winning goal shortly after Ibarra picked up his red card in the second half Thursday at North Kansas City District Activities Complex in Kansas City.
Staley took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute, but Platte County leveled in the 20th minute through Schrick on a corner kick. The score held until 7 minutes after halftime when the Falcons took advantage of the dead ball after the red card. The Pirates played down a man for the final 33 minutes down a man with Hedrick making 11 saves.
Platte County finished with just five shots on goal total. The Pirates entered the game off of a 2-1 showing in the Park Hill Kickoff Classic.
