Platte County starts building case for postseason seeding

Platte County continues to build a case for Class 3 District 8 seeding in what should be a tight top five — the latest result a clutch 3-2 victory over Pembroke Hill on Thursday night in Kansas City. The Pirates have lost to Kearney (8-8) and have a critical matchup Tuesday at Smithville (9-5-2) with Kansas City East (12-2-1) likely in the driver’s seat for the top seed with a matchup at Pembroke Hill pending this week.

Thanks to a pair of goals from junior forward Gavin Nichols in the 76th minute, Platte County overcame a pair of one-goal deficits to beat Pembroke Hill. Nichols delivered the winner in the 76th minute after the Pirates trailed 2-1 at halftime. He also tied the score in the 46th minute, while junior goalkeeper Jordan Hedrick kept the Raiders scoreless for the final 54 minutes.

Pembroke Hill led 1-0 after a breakthrough goal in the fourth minute.

Platte County junior midfielder AJ Schrick leveled for the Pirates just 6 minutes later, and the Raiders took the lead back 14th minute before the game settled down. Nichols provided the second tie score early in the second half and then helped avoid the possibility of overtime and penalty kicks.

Improving to 11-5, Platte County went 3-0 in a busy week to bounce back from a loss to Park Hill South while playing shorthanded in all three matches. The Pirates were without senior defender Mark Wiesehan after he picked up a tough red card picked up a night earlier.

Platte County 7, St. Joseph Central 0

Pirates senior forward Aaron Cordova completed a hat trick midway through the second half then added an assist and a fourth goal late in what became a runaway victory Wednesday night at Pirate Stadium.

“Team’s getting confident; we’re trying to start stringing together some wins,” said Cordova, who recorded his third performance of at least three goals in a span of four games. “We’re doing well on that; it’s just all coming together.”

Cordova’s third off a pass from senior midfield Connor Currence put Platte County up 3-0 in the 54th minute and provided some needed cushion. The Pirates then started to look comfortable and even allowed Wiesehan to try a free kick from 20 yards out in an effort to put the first-year starter in the scoring column for the first time.

Central’s goalkeeper rose up well to punch the right-footed shot over the bar, and three minutes later, he made a sliding save on Cordova’s breakaway. The ball fell to junior forward Josh Nelson, who couldn’t finish on an open net with a shot that sailed just wide right.

Platte County then scored four times in the final 8 minutes.

The outburst started when Pirates senior midfielder Felix Victore drilled a rocket into the upper right corner of the goal in the 72nd minute, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. The blast came on a one-time effort from 30-plus yards out to make it 4-0.

Schrick pounced on a rebound in the 74th minute to make it a five-goal margin.

Cordova’s assist came in highlight-reel fashion in the 77th minute. He dribbled up the left wing and pushed into the box down the enplane before centering to unmarked sophomore reserve midfielder Jack Klippenstein, who calmly pushed his shot into the lower left corner for his first career goal.

“It felt great,” Cordova said. “Jack and I are good friends. We’ve been friends for way back. Jack getting some good minutes and getting his first goal was a great feeling.”

The lone blemish for Platte County came came in between the fifth and sixth goals when Wiesehan drew a second yellow card in a perceived tussle with a Central attacker, who threw him down to pick up his own warning. However, the official ruled Wiesehan made a back kick into the Indians player during the lead to a reactionary foul. The Pirates then scored twice shorthanded with Cordova finishing off the scoring in the 78th minute with a cutback his own saved shot.

Cordova’s first two goals in the first half were both of the spectacular variety. He stood over a free kick in the 15th minute and took the shot with great results. His second came in the final seconds of the first half, pushing through a cluster of players to rise up and bury a header well off of a corner from Schrick.

“I was feeling confident; I said I was on it and just struck it well and it went exactly where I wanted it to,” Cordova said. “The second one, we were kind of rushing toward the end of the half, trying to get some set pieces in. AJ played an amazing ball to me, right at the back post tapped it in with my head.”

Hedrick made just three saves but also survived a nervy moment early in the second half when Central pinged a shot off the post while still trailing just 2-0.

Platte County played without senior midfielder Ahoy Victore and senior defender Joseph Ibarra after both picked up red cards in a loss to Park Hill South the previous week. This was in addition to mandatory missed game the night before against Belton.

Platte County 3, Belton 2

The Pirates improved to 5-0 in Suburban Conference White Division play behind three goals from Cordova — two in the first half and one early in the second half — Monday in Belton.

Completing the hat trick in the 44th minute, Cordova gave Platte County a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead. Belton stormed back with late second half goals, but Hedrick made seven saves while missing two key players in front of him to hold on for the win.

Cordova’s first two goals came on assists from Nelson, while Nichols set up the marker early in the second half.

Platte County goes into the final two weeks of the regular season with only one nonconference matchup — the road rivalry game with Smithville on Tuesday. The Pirates then host Grain Valley and William Chrisman before closing the regular season a week from Wednesday at Raytown.

The matchup with Grain Valley will likely decide if Platte County wins the conference title outright. Grain Valley, which also must navigate a matchup with Belton to close the regular season, could likely earn a split with a win after the two teams went to penalty kicks in their first meeting of the season.