Platte County regained the desired momentum and now hopes maintain the surge through the final week of the regular season.
On Wednesday, Platte County senior midfielder helped avoid a penalty kick shootout with the lone goal of a 1-0 victory over Belton in the first of potentially two 10-minute overtime periods. The sudden-death game winner on an assist from junior midfielder Thien Nguyen gave Platte County a third straight win that followed a three-game losing skid.
In a season defined by ups and downs, Platte County improved back t 9-1 overall and 8-4 in Suburban Conference White Division play.
Belton finished with just three shots on goal, and Platte County senior goalkeeper Paul Havemeier finished with three saves for his fourth cleansheet of the season and second in the current stretch of wins. Platte County also used a third different set of four defenders in front of him in a span of three games with veteran coach Ashlyn Brantley using different combinations of seniors Quinn Traas, Bresner Garcia and Aidan Murray, junior Wally Baldwin; and freshman Kai James-Gallimore.
Habel scored the winner in the 90th minute with less than 60 seconds to go in the first overtime period.
Platte County has yet to be over .500 this season after losing three of the first four and six of the first eight games. However, the Pirates have shown glimpses of potential coming off of a Class 3 District 8 runnerup showing in 2023 with Havemeier and Habel the only returning starters.
The additional good news against Belton came from the return of Platte County senior forward Tug Thornton as a reserve forward. He played a key role in the offense early this season before suffering a foot injury in late September during an 8-1 loss to Pembroke Hill and had not seen action in the past eight games.
Platte County, which closes out the regular seaosn with home conference games against Fort Osage (Monday) and Grain Valley (Wednesday), also awaits seeding for the Class 3 District 8 tournament.
East (Kansas City) returns as the two-time defending champion after also winning a state title last fall. The Bears beat Platte County in this year’s season-opener, and the Pirates also have losses to Kearney and Smithville and trail the overall records of Lincoln Prep (15-1) and Van Horn (15-3-1).
With the loaded slate of teams, Platte County could end up with the No. 6 seed and a first round matchup with Van Horn, which has a loss to Lincoln Prep. East has beaten both Van Horn and Lincoln Prep.
Platte County 9, Ruskin 1
Habel scored a hat trick, and six players factored into the scoring for the Pirates in Monday’s victory in Kansas City.
Platte County led 7-0 at halftime and then ended the game early just five minutes out of the break with a goal from junior Will Babock on an assist from Nguyen. Habel completed his hat trick less than a minute earlier to increase the Pirates’ lead to 8-1 on an assist freshman midfielder Josiah O’Rourke.
With just one goal in the first two years of his career, Habel had four in the past two games alone and now has posted two three-goal games this season. He opened the scoring for Platte County against Ruskin in the fourth minute on an unassisted breakaway, and Pirates freshman forward Camden Noller doubled the advantage less than a minute later on a header off of a free kick from junior Ian Mathews, who posted two assists.
Platte County piled on the scoring early with goals in the eighth minute (Nguyen from Murray), 11th minute (Mathews direct on another free kick) and 13th minute (Habel from Mathews). The Pirates’ The final two goals of the first half for Noller (28th minute) and junior midfielder Abe Norman were both unassisted.
Ruskin actually closed within 7-1 in the 42nd minute only for Platte County to score twice in the next three minutes. Havemeier faced only one shot on goal, while the Pirates used 17 total players in their second eight-goal victory of the season.
Platte County 3, William Chrisman 0
The Pirates snapped the three-game losing streak with a dominant shutout last Wednesday in Independence.
Havemeier made one save in a cleansheet effort while Baldwin returned to Platte County’s starting lineup after missing the prior game — an overtime defeat at home vs. Raytown — due to a red card issued to him against Smithville. The Pirates’ 1-0 lead taken through a Noller header in the ninth minute ultimately held up.
Norman doubled the advantage in the 23rd minute on an unassisted breakaway, and Mathews added an insurance goal in the 48th minute for Platte County, which finished a season sweep of the Bears.
