Sloan seals shootout win over rival Smithville after Kaser saves pair of PKs in district thriller

Addison Sloan executed on the plan but didn’t want to celebrate too early. She learned a lesson late in regulation and decided to hold back just a bit.

After slotting home the winning penalty kick, Platte County’s senior outside midfielder gave the appropriate pause and then rushed to celebrate the Pirates’ upset of third-seeded Smithville in Monday’s Class 3 District 8 quarterfinal matchup at Smithville High School. The Warriors reached the state semifinals each of the past two seasons and claimed a second-place trophy in 2023.

However, a competitively seeded bracket led to an intriguing first round matchup with sixth-seeded Platte County, which scored an equalizer late in the second half. The two teams ended up tied 1-1 after regulation and two halves of overtime, leading to the shootout scenario.

Platte County junior goalkeeper Finley Kaser saved two Smithville attempts, and the Warriors sent a third wide of the net on what ended up three straight misses. The Pirates wound up 3-1 winners with junior Lily Kytasaari, senior midfielder Marissa Orellana and finally Sloan all converting.

“I was like, ‘Don’t screw it up,'” Sloan said. “I had already planned in my head to go bottom right corner because usually I fake to the left and then go to the right but I was like I’m just gonna go bottom right corner.

“I just went with my gut: bottom right corner. I was like, ‘Is that it?’ I didn’t know.”

Platte County (9-10) trailed the majority of regulation after allowing a goal in the 18th minute — a stark contrast from the regular season meeting between the two teams. In that matchup, the Pirates scored early and then gave up three goals in the second half of a 3-1 loss.

However, Kaser made 11 saves to keep Platte County within one goal, and Orellana and Kytasaari took advantage of a clear cut chance in the 76th minute with the final seconds of regulation ticking away.

Orellana played a strong diagonal ball that put Kytasaari one-on-one with Smithville goalkeeper Sophia Townsend, who came off her line. Kytasaari softly chipped a shot over her head with the ball nestling softly into the bottom of the left corner.

Sloan came off the bench to celebrate with her teammates and ultimately drew an inconsequential yellow card for her understandable overexuberance.

“Confident in her skills and abilities. Even in moments like that, players can be weighed down,” Platte County coach Ashlyn Brantley said of Kytasaari’s cool demeanor. “She took it and got her head up and saw the keeper was out and took full advantage. We’ve talked about how against good teams you don’t get many opportunities, and she finished today.”

Not only did Platte County start to extend spells of possession after the tying goal, but the defense also seemed to become more organized in a collective mental reset. The Pirates started to limit chances with the central defense combination of senior Alex Beeman and junior Madison Palmer organizing a unit that also rotated senior Kaelyn Bellach, junior Annabel Beeman and freshman Caroline Linn on the outside.

Platte County’s best offensive chance in the two 15-minute halves of sudden death OT came in the 93rd minute when junior midfielder Brooklynne Jenni’s corner kick fell to sophomore midfielder Carissa Bacon, who shot high.

Smithville nearly came up with the winner twice in the closing seconds of the second extra session. On the first, senior Zoe Yim attacked down the right side and fired a shot at a tight angle that went off the cross bar and out. Kaser made a comfortable save on a header that came off of an ensuing corner kick.

Moments later, Yim again found room down the right side and set up junior Peyton Wohlford for a one-time shot she dragged across the face of goal and wide right.

With that teams tied, Platte County went to just the second penalty shootout of the season.

Smithville took the first spot kick and converted to take a 1-0 lead, but Kytasaari calmly hit a shot strong to the left and past Townsend to level. The Warriors then missed the goal on the second attempt, and Orellana put them behind 2-1.

Kaser saved her first in the third round, and Jenni missed the frame to leave the Pirates’ lead at 2-1. Kaser then made another save on a shot hit right at her to set up the potential game winning penalty for Sloan.

“She has so many saves,” Sloan said. “This whole season, she has done such a great job.”

Sloan took her turn and went low to the right with Townsend guessing wrong. Smithville’s season ended at 13-4-1.

Platte County returned mostly to full strength for the first time in a long time with Bacon and Annabel Beeman back from recent injuries. The Pirates also continued to utilize freshman Mila Cucchiara as the starting defensive midfielder, a spot junior older sister Giada Cucchiara has been able to fill this year while recovering from offseason surgery for a torn ACL.

That’s allowed Jenni to move more into the attack in support of Kytasaari and junior forward Rylee Burris.

However, Platte County had yet to find consistent form this season, having dropped four of the final six in the regular season after briefly hitting .500. The Pirates were again in search of lengthy offensive connections early and settled into the game late in the first half.

“Throughout the game, (Smithville) had their chances, but we got more organized back there on defense,” Brantley said. “I think the players, each one that went in, stepped it up and did what they needed to do. We found the fight within us to keep going.”

The best chance before the break ended with Burris hitting a shot over the bar.

In the 50th minute, Jenni’s corner kick led to a header for Kytasaari, but she couldn’t steer an attempt on target. Platte County continued to search for the right opportunity, took advantage of one clear-cut chance and ultimately prevailed in the shootout.

“Alex Beeman really stood up (on defense),” Sloan said. “She has been on it all year, but today, you could just tell how bad she wanted it. I think that brought everyone else’s heads up, especially when we were down, and once Lily got that goal, we knew we were still in it.”

Platte County advances to Wednesday’s semifinal against second-seeded Kearney (10-9) at Pembroke Hill High School in Kansas City. Incidentally, the two teams went to a penalty shootout in the seventh-place game of Platte County’s season-opening Pirate Invitational after a scoreless regulation. The Bulldogs won that 4-2.

Kearney also won 2-0 over Platte County in a semifinal of April’s North Kansas City Tournament that proved important to district hierarchy.

Van Horn ultimately took the No. 1 spot in the bracket, while Kearney held the two wins over Platte County and one against Smithville at the time of seeding. The Pirates dropped to the No. 6 spot after a loss to Pembroke Hill, which ended up at No. 5, while Lincoln Prep held an argument for the No. 4 spot thanks to a complicated series of results between common opponents.

Van Horn and Pembroke Hill play in Wednesday’s other semifinal with the championship game scheduled for Friday.

Grain Valley 6, Platte County 1

The Pirates went into the postseason off of a road loss at Grain Valley last Tuesday.

Entering with a chance to earn a share of the Suburban Conference White Division title, Platte County gave up three goals in each half, while Jenni scored off of a free kick in 68th minute to briefly cut the deficit to 5-1. The Eagles ended up with 22 shots on goal with Kaser making 16 saves in the loss.

Grain Valley earned the season sweep and finished conference play at a perfect 8-0, while Platte County went 6-2.