The early tests were supposed to serve this exact purpose.
Platte County sophomore midfielder Lucas Walton hits a shot against Smithville on Wednesday at Pirate Stadium.
Platte County junior forward Kayden Roy’s goal in the 57th minute stood up as the winner in a 1-0 victory over Smithville on Wednesday at Pirate Stadium. The Pirates entered off of a loss to Oak Park in what became a spaced out schedule due to a weather postponement with Raytown South and a week with just one game on the schedule.
The win improved Platte County’s record to 2-3 overall, but all three losses were to Class 4 opposition. The Pirates move back down to Class 3 this postseason.
Both of Platte County’s wins came against potential district opponents — 5-2 over Lincoln Prep and now the shutout of rival Smithville.
This marked the first time in five games Platte County didn’t allow the first goal while completely rebuilding the back line. The Pirates lost junior Kai James-Gallimore — a two-year starter — to an offseason knee injury, while junior Josiah O’Rourke went down, also with a knee injury, in the second game of the Park Hill Classic.
Eventually, Platte County shifted junior Sawyer Sullins inside along with senior Kaden Kampmeyer, and junior Ethan Quick and senior Wyatt Beeson started against Smithville (5-3). This marked Beeson’s first start of the season, and junior goalkeeper Jack Girdner recorded his first cleansheet of the season while the Pirates hopefully found more stability in the defense in front of him.
Roy also scored for the first time this season, adding diversity to the duo of senior Camden Noller and sophomore Daniel Frame up top. All three forwards have consistently been part of the attack, but shots on target and finishing have not been consistent while also playing with senior Ryan Waldman (knee), another two-year contributor expected to miss the season along with James-Gallimore.
Platte County now plays two more important matchups in terms of Class 3 District 8 seeding Monday against Kearney and Thursday against Benton — both at home — in between a challenging trip to Blue Springs South on Tuesday.
