Platte County senior forward Sloan Kassen dribbles upfield against St. Pius X during a Platte County Invitational game Monday at Pirate Stadium.
Don’t ever expect the field in the Platte County Invitational to include an opportunity to relax.
The hosts were on the wrong end of a difficult bracket to open the season, losing three games in three days and finishing eighth. The Pirates failed to score a goal in shutout losses to St. Pius X (3-0), Raymore-Peculiar (1-0) and Kearney (1-0).
Platte County entered the season with only five returning starters — senior forward Sloan Kassen, senior right back Cosette Stephenson, junior center back Alex Beeman, sophomore midfielder Lily Kytasaari and sophomore goalkeeper Finley Kaser — but also brought back a deep roster of experienced players. However, the Pirates will look to regain their scoring touch this week in a road game at Staley on Wednesday and at home vs. Smithville on Thursday.
Staley finished third in the Platte County Invitational, while Liberty went on to defeat St. Pius X 1-0 in the championship.
Platte County junior Carmen Gentilia controls the ball in front of a St. Pius X defender during a Platte County Invitational game Monday at Pirate Stadium.
Platte County entered as the No. 3 seed following a 22-4 season last spring that ended in the Class 3 District 8 championship game to Smithville, which went on to finish third in state. Thanks to graduated all-state forwards Riley Smith and Lauren Stone, the four losses were the only games where the Pirates didn’t score a year ago.
Now, Platte County has three of those games in a week.
In Monday’s opener at Pirate Stadium, St. Pius X struck for three goals in the first half on the way to the win. Platte County went into Tuesday’s consolation game looking to rebound against seventh-seeded Raymore-Peculiar but conceded a penalty kick late in the first half that the Panthers converted for the only goal on a cold, rainy day. The Pirates’ gave up the winner to Kearney in the second half of Wednesday’s seventh-place game Central Bank Sporting Complex in Kansas City.
Platte County’s difficult start to the season includes a pair of games with Class 3 District 8 seeding implications. The Pirates will already start behind Kearney, although the teams meet again in the regular season, and they will have only one guaranteed shot against Smithville with this week’s meeting.
Platte County moves up to the Suburban Conference White Division this year, while Kearney and Smithville remain in the Blue Division.
