Platte County can’t hold early lead in loss to rival Smithville

SMITHVILLE, Mo. — Through four games, Platte County has shown ability to compete with every opponent — all likely to have solid records this season. However, the Pirates continue to search for their first win.

Most recently, Platte County held a lead for the first time this season only to see Smithville pull away for a 3-1 victory behind a trio of goals in the second half Wednesday night at Smithville High School. The Warriors leveled on a penalty kick, went in front on a highlight-reel strike from junior Peyton Wohlford and added a third late with the Pirates pushing numbers forward looking for an equalizer.

Platte County went ahead early in the first half on the second career goal for freshman Amela Dzilic and held the advantage for nearly 40 minutes but struggled to create consistent offensive opportunities after the early marker.

“I definitely think we can compete and have been in all the games we’ve played,” Platte County coach Ashlyn Brantley said. “It’s being consistent throughout the games and not having those lulls.”

Platte County (0-4) finished with just four shots on target, and the best spells of offense came in the opening minutes. The first true chance for either team came in the seventh minute when junior forward Rylee Burris collected a pass and dribbled through defenders to create some space before firing wide from the top of the 18-yard box in the seventh minute.

The goal from Dzilic, who started for a third straight game as part of an attacking trio that also includes Burris and junior Lily Kytasaari, in the 13th minute. Kytasaari attacked down the right side and managed to send a speculative cross in from the right, and Dzilic rose up for a looping header that went across the face of goal and into the net.

Platte County did not lead in three losses in the season-opening Platte County Invitational despite scoring in two and then going to penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation against Kearney.

“The way we came out in this game, we hadn’t come out like that in any of the other games,” Brantley said. “Creating those chances makes us happy, gets us excited, and we want to build off of that. It was a great goal, great ball in by Lily.”

Smithville’s shots mostly came from distance in the first half, and Platte County junior goalkeeper Finley Kaser, a third-year starter, made her third of five saves in the 24th minute. The Warriors failed to hit the frame on a free kick from 25 yards out and a chance at the back post in the run of play in the closing moments of the first half, which came to an end shortly after another shot that went into the side netting.

Platte County took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but the next best chance after the early opportunities came from Kytasaari attacking down the right only to set up Burris for a shot that ended up blocked. The Pirates continued to struggle in the second half with attackers often isolated in small numbers up front.

“Working as a unit is what we need,” Brantley said. “We need multiple options as we’re going forward, not just direct. We were doing a lot of chasing, and we want to possess and knock it around like we normally do.”

Smithville continued to apply pressure, and in the 50th minute, a through ball sent senior Zoe Yim into open space. Kaser went low to smother a shot sent right at her and keep the one-goal advantage intact.

However, Platte County committed a foul in the box moments later, and the Warriors tied the score 1-1 when freshman Rylee Miller’s penalty kick low and to the left just beat Kaser, who dove right and just missed making a save. The go-ahead-goal came in the 68th minute when a loose ball fell to Wohlford about 35 yards out. She hit a right-footed shot, and Kaser went high to try and tip over the shot, which went just under the bar and into the upper right corner of the net.

“It was a good shot,” Brantley said. “We’ve got to learn to work through those types of situations. We don’t want to dig ourselves in a hole. We’ve got to put pressure on the ball and not give away those long shots. We’ve got to be able to keep our heads up and keep playing.”

Wohlford also assisted on the 77th minute goal that gave Smithville a 3-1 lead. The Warriors improved to 1-2 after opening the season with losses to Class 4 foes Liberty North and Blue Springs South.

Platte County went into the season with questions to answer after losing two key pieces in the back end — a central defender to graduation and junior defensive midfielder Giada Cucchiara to a torn ACL in the offseason — plus the top two goal scorers from last spring. The Pirates seemed to settle in on roles in the last two games of their home tournament with the defense now utilizing senior Alex Beeman and junior Madison Palmer on the inside and junior Annabel Beeman on the right and senior Kaelyn Bellach on the left.

That has left junior Brooklynne Jenni as the top choice at defensive midfielder, although Cucchiara still hopes to return at some point this season.

Platte County looked mostly at full strength with senior midfielder Marissa Orellana back on one flank after missing the first three games due to illness with sophomore Saige Dickens on the opposite side. The Pirates seemed to benefit from the continuity into halftime and beyond, although freshman Mila Cucchiara replaced Jenni for a brief time after she appeared to suffer a minor knock at one point in the second half.

“We hope they start feeling more comfortable playing with each other and getting used to where they’re at,” Brantley said. “Most likely, at this point, that’s where they’re going to be throughout the season.”

Platte County now faces a critical rematch with Kearney on Monday night at Pirate Stadium. The result will likely be important to Class 3 District 8 seeding with Smithville looking to defend back-to-back titles after finishing as state runnerup last spring and third place in 2022.