Platte County blanks Kearney to run win streak to 5 straight

This season’s matchup with Kearney didn’t carry the usual weight of circumstance and consequence.

Yet, Platte County seemingly didn’t struggle to find motivation and provided a dominant performance start to finish in a 4-0 shutout of a chief rival Monday night at Pirate Stadium. The Pirates scored twice on either side of halftime to earn a fifth straight win and move over .500 for the first time this season at 6-5 overall, even if this result doesn’t have any conference or postseason implications as in past seasons.

A deep but relatively inexperienced lineup seems to have found footing over the past two weeks and might now have the confidence to make a push toward a more difficult district assignment.

“We were a little tired last week, even thought we played good,” said Platte County senior center back Wally Baldwin, who helped the Pirates record a third shutout in a span of four games and added the fourth goal in the final minute. “This week, I think we came out, a lot of energy, kind of put it together.

“I’ve noticed a lot more building in the team. At the beginning of the season, we were kind of a little bit more at each other’s throats. Now, we’re kind of more relaxed, and we’re just working together better.”

Platte County dominated the shots with nine and made the most of the best chances. Four different players accounted for the goals, which were very evenly spread out across the 80 minutes.

In the eighth minute, Platte County took a 1-0 lead with senior midfielder Cameron Habel — the lone four-year starter on the roster — scoring on an assist from junior forward Camden Noller, and the Pirates went into halftime up two with sophomore reserve forward Kayden Roy tallying his goal on an assist from freshman midfielder Elijah Smith with less than 8 minutes left before the break. That shows the depth currently being used with veteran coach Ashlyn Brantley regularly using 20 or more players in matches.

Platte County went into the season with eight experienced starters but have mixed in previous contributors and newcomers into enhanced or different roles.

“I think at first we had some people who just weren’t ready for the position at the time,” Baldwin said. “But I think now with over time how we’ve done it they’ve just gotten used to how to play it.”

Both of Platte County’s goals in the second half came on dead ball situations. In the 54th minute, the Pirates took a 3-0 lead when junior Ryan Waldman, currently combining with Habel and senior Chaz Cox in the attacking part of midfield, converted a penalty kick. That advantage held until the waning moments.

Kearney seemingly ran out of energy to pushback, and Platte County took advantage with sustained pressure in the closing sequences. The Pirates were originally awarded a fourth goal in the 80th minute when sophomore reserve midfielder Josiah O’Rourke took a hit from long range with Kearney’s goalkeeper able to push the shot off of the crossbar only to see it carom off the football goal post crossbar behind the goal and back into play.

The ball bounced off of the goalkeeper and went into the net, but the officials correctly ruled the shot out of bounds and awarded a corner kick. Platte County senior midfielder Thien Nguyen sent the cross in and found Baldwin completely unmarked in the center of the 18-yard box, and he sent a violent header straight into the back of the net to put the Pirates up 4-0.

“That one felt good, especially after Josiah. We just lost that one,” he said. “I literally said it before the match. I had a feeling I was going to score a header.”

Kearney managed five shots on target with Platte County sophomore goalkeeper Jack Girdner recording five corresponding saves for his third cleansheet as a first-year starter taking over for Paul Havemeier, who served as the No. 1 for two-plus years. The Pirates allowed two or more goals in each loss during the 1-5 start to the season but have given up two just once during the current winning streak.

Platte County’s combination of Baldwin and sophomore Kai James-Gallimore in central defense continues to look stronger while senior Westin Summers and sophomore Sawyer Sullins have taken over starting roles on the outside. Baldwin featured in the middle last year as a first-year contributor, while James-Gallimore spent most of his freshman season as a first-choice right back before shifting over.

“I think communication between the defense is great. I think it’s gotten a lot better,” Baldwin said.

Finally seeing some sustained success this season, Platte County continues to venture toward uncharted postseason territory, having regularly played in Class 3 districts for a decade. That changes this season, after a recent move from the Blue Division of the Suburban Conference to the White Division, also separating the rivals.

Platte County plays in Class 4 District 8 this season and won’t have many matchups in the regular season with the other seven teams to be seeded in that bracket. The Pirates have not made the playoffs since a 2019 run to the Class 3 state championship game and a runnerup finish — the best season in program history.

Platte County 5, Ruskin 2

The Pirates improved to 3-2 in White Division play with an uneven victory last Wednesday in Kansas City.

Never trailing, Platte County ended up with five different goalscorer non this conference matchup and went ahead 5-1 in the 57th minute on a placed shot from Waldman off of senior midfielder Ian Mathews’ cross. Ruskin ended up tallying the final goal with just more than 10 minutes left in regulation. The Eagles converted on both shots on target in a frustrating result for a defense coming off back-to-back shutouts.

Platte County scored nearly back-to-back in ninth and 10th minutes to take a 2-0 lead with Habel putting in the first on an assist from senior midfielder Abe Norman just ahead of Noller’s solo work seconds later.

Ruskin halved the deficit in the 22nd minute, but Platte County answered back in the 26th with Roy on an unassisted breakaway. The 3-1 lead for the Pirates held into the second half with Mathews’ free kick goal in the 50th minute pushing the advantage to four ahead of Waldman’s capper.

Platte County opened conference play with frustrating losses to Fort Osage (3-2) and Truman (3-0) before a recent run of three straight wins.

Platte County 4, William Chrisman 0

Girdner recorded one save to record the shutout in last Monday’s conference victory in Independence.

Platte County’s offense benefitted from a pair of penalty kicks — one on either side of halftime. Waldman converted the first in the 16th minute to put the Pirates up 2-0 and senior reserve Andi Sanchez netted the second in the 51st minute to extend the advantage to three goals. Habel scored the opener less than 10 minutes into the first half, and senior Jacob Hein headed home Waldman’s cross in the 69th minute to provide the final margin of victory.