Platte County’s potentially historic season cut short in district title game

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — What started as a fortunate bounce turned into a fleetingly brief reprieve turned into a crippling sequence.

The lone goal in St. Pius X’s 1-0 victory in the Class 3 District 8 championship game Friday evening came when junior forward Grayson Vacanti’s shot pinged off the right post, but as Platte County senior goalkeeper Finley Kaser turned to try and prevent a rebound opportunity, the ball caromed off of her and into the back of the net at Van Horn High School. The Warriors finally broke through in the 74th minutes and didn’t offer any clear-cut opportunities for an equalizer in the limited time left in regulation.

Platte County’s resurgent season came to an end crushingly short of the program’s first playoff appearance since 2021.

“That’s how soccer goes sometimes,” Platte County coach Ashlyn Brantley said. “It just doesn’t go your way, and (the goal) doesn’t determine the level of play and the game that we had today. It was just that one moment where it didn’t go our way, and they capitalized.”

A momentous 2-0 victory over second-seeded Pembroke Hill in Wednesday’s semifinal on goals from freshman Addison Stone and senior Brooklyn Jenni put Platte County in a district championship game for the first time since 2022. The Pirates endured back-to-back losing seasons in the two years since a loss to Smithville.

However, Platte County’s deep class of nine seniors including four-year contributors like Kaser, midfielder Lily Kytasaari, forward Rylee Burris and defenders Madison Palmer and Annabel Beeman teamed with returners, a transfer and a talented influx of freshmen in what ended up a successful and potentially historic run. The Pirates won 14 straight at one point and earned a share of the Suburban Conference White Division title thanks a to a split of two matchups with Grain Valley.

Platte County finished with a 20-4 record and the most wins in a season since piling up 24 and 22 win 2021 and 2022. All four of the Pirates’ losses came in shutouts — two of them against St. Pius X.

“It choked me up there at the end because of how far (the seniors) have come, the leaders that they’ve been this season for our team and bringing everyone together,” Brantley said. “We’re going to miss that, and they’ve had an amazing season.”

As part of a 1-2 start in the season-opening Platte County Invitational, Platte County lost the first matchup with St. Pius X by a lopsided score of 7-0. The Pirates were without both Palmer and Jenni due to head injuries, leading both into lengthy layoffs, and five starters total.

Back to full health in the rematch, Platte County still faced a persistent and repetitive attack, but the backline of Beeman, Palmer, sophomore Caroline Linn and freshman Emily Fadler plus senior defensive midfielder Giada Cucchiara, who missed all of her junior season rehabbing a torn ACL, frustrated St. Pius X (21-3) into a handful of wayward shots. Kaser also made 11 saves to help keep the Pirates level until the closing moments.

“That was our goal coming in was to limit the time (St. Pius X) had on the ball,” Brantley said. “Somebody always had to be stepping to the ball early, and the next line of defense had to be right there behind. They did have some opportunities, but we did a good job of pressuring the so they weren’t clean opportunities, so I could be happy with that. We sacrificed our bodies at the back to give away corners rather than goals. I think they all worked their tails off, and asking them to play that high-pressure game is asking a lot out of them physically, but they stood up to the test.”

Platte County’s best chances to score came late in the first half. Stone sent a right-footed shot from a tight angle on the left just over the bar in the 15th minute, and a defender for the Warriors deflected Kytasaari’s attempt on a scramble in the middle of the box away from danger with the goalkeeper having come out to end up out of position to make a save.

Kaser faced a half dozen shots from St. Pius X in the first 12 minutes, the first whistling just wide of the left post in the opening seconds of the match with the sixth the first to be put on frame and force a save. She added three more stops in quick succession, two on a pair of dangerous free kicks from 20 and 30 yards out, to keep Platte County in a scoreless tie in the latter part of the second half. The Pirates appeared to be in position to force extra time and potentially a penalty kick shootout when the decisive consecution developed.

St. Pius X senior Kendra Roberts sent a pass to Vacanti, who ended up credited with the goal off of the unfortunate ricochet from the post to Kaser’s back.

Platte County struggled to consistently involve Kytasaari and Burris in the offense, while Jenni, Addison Stone, senior Lauren Stone and juniors Saige Dickens and Kiara Smith, a first-year transfer in the Pirates’ rotation, became the preferred rotation of support in midfield. The Pirates were regularly forced out of a preferred possession-style buildup and into quick counterattacks that repeatedly fizzled out.

“Especially in the first half when we were winning the ball, we had more time than we realized. We were just giving it away,” Brantley said. “The second half we were trying to possess a little bit more, but on the quick counters, I think we were reading each other a little differently — not quite making the run we needed or someone was out of position. Even just putting crosses in the box, I think we didn’t play those opportunities like we should have, but it was a little out of our comfort zone.”

As the final seconds ticked away, Platte County players and coaches tried to provide each other consolation. The postgame speech from the normally stoic Brantley appeared to include a few tears in facing the reality of losing nine seniors who all earned various amounts of starting opportunities during this season.

Platte County regularly went 20 players deep in rotations when not dealing with injuries. In addition to Palmer and Jenni, the Pirates also went through a lengthy stretch with first Lauren Stone, who returned this season after a year away from the roster focusing on basketball, and then Addison Stone out with foot/ankle injuries.

The Stone sisters brought a certain combination of speed and toughness to Platte County’s attack, but sophomore forward Macy Doll and sophomores Mila Cucchiara and Amela Dzilic and freshman Katelynn Newberry in the midfield helped keep the offense that averaged nearly four goals per game on track. The Pirates also posted 14 total shutouts with senior Alivia Juarez providing more minutes than initially expected as a starting right back with Palmer out.

Eventually, Brantley settled on the center back pairing of Beeman and Fadler, while Palmer and Linn started on the outside. Palmer would also move inside at times with Juarez and junior Kaylee Dixon coming off the bench to play right and left back, even as rotations tightened late in the season.

Despite the complications and following a slow start, Platte County kept putting the pieces together and ended up with the No. 3 seed in one of the state’s toughest district brackets regardless of class. The Pirates allowed more than one goal just twice all season — once in a 3-2 win over Grain Valley — and were in position to spring an upset for most of what ended up a season-ending loss that in some ways represents the end of an era with a talented group of graduates leaving the returners with an opportunity to start a run of success based of this season’s example.

Platte County 2, Pembroke Hill 0

Kaser came up with the perhaps the Pirates’ biggest moment in Wednesday’s semifinal at Van Horn High School.

Platte County conceded a penalty kick for a third straight game, but Kaser went low to knock away an attempt midway through the first half to keep the 2-0 lead in place. The Pirates went in front during the eighth minute when Jenni collected an errant Pembroke Hill pass in the middle of the pitch and blasted an attempt from 33 yards out. Raiders junior goalkeeper Tyler Pritchett worked to her right and put two hands on the ball, only to push the shot into the net.

Addison Stone added the second in the 22nd minute for Platte County when she poked home a shot on a breakaway that ultimately ended with a one-on-one situation against Pritchett, who finished with six saves. With five shots total, Addison Stone also saw two attempts ping off posts and one come back off the crossbar.

Pembroke Hill (15-4) received a lifeline back into the match with the penalty kick, only to have Kaser make the stop and then smother a followup attempt. She made nine saves in what ended up the last of her 14 cleansheets this season.

Platte County 2, Lincoln Prep 1

Addison Stone and Smith scored nearly back to back to break a scoreless deadlock in the second half of Monday’s first round game at Pirate Stadium.

Lincoln Prep (8-8) closed within 2-1 on a penalty kick just moments later in what ended up a tight matchup between two of the six teams to enter Class 3 District 8 play with a winning record. Addison Stone’s opener came on a header off of a free kick from Jenni in the 58th minute, and Burris set up Smith’s goal almost exactly a minute later.

Kaser finished with just one save against sixth-seeded Lincoln Prep.