MSHSAA.tv – State Championship Game

MSHSAA.tv – State Semifinal Game

Chris Miller (Coach of Southern Boone Co.) Previews Class 1 Missouri High School Soccer Final 4 – Hosted at SoccerStl.net

KOLR 10 – Catholic Team in Studio after Championship Victory

KSPR 33 – State Final Coverage

Pictures by:   Gina Harbach and Glen Green

The Irish started strong by dominating possession early in the match and had several near misses before Reid Harbach connected on a Dallas Moses cross in the eighteenth to put the Irish ahead. In the thirtieth Mitch Moncade collected an Evan Craig through ball, after strong play in the midfield, to slot low past the keeper.  Later in the half Craig headed in a nice cross from Ryan Randall after beating his marker to put the Irish up 3 – 0 at half time.

Early in the second half with many subs getting valuable playing time, the Irish got the fourth goal by Reid Harbach from a Luke Straus corner to put the game out of reach for Fatima.

The Irish backline kept the ball far away from James Straus’ net preventing Fatima from getting back into the game.

The Irish will play Pemborke Hill on Saturday at 2:00 PM at Blue Springs South HS for the Championship of Class 1.

Coach Miller gives his thoughts on the Class 1 State Finals.  His comments are posted on Steve “Ole” Olsen’s web site SoccerStl.net

On a windy, late afternoon game, on the Cooper 1 Turf Field, the Fightin’ Irish got past Southern Boone County to move on to the State Finals.  The Irish almost got on the board in the first minute when Evan Craig got a break-a-way, to round the back line and go in on the keeper.  However, SoBoCo keeper Haslag, came out of his box strong, and forced Craig’s effort wide.  The Irish defending the 25 – 30 mph winds, kept the pressure on the Eagles back line and in the fifth minute, Luke Straus had a shot from distance that was held up by the wind, saved by Haslag.  Southern Boone got its first real effort of the game off of a corner kick in the 15th minute but the effort was cleared by the Irish.  As the rest of the half played out, the Irish defending into the wind were content to enter half-time with a 0 – 0 scoreline.

As the second half begin, the Irish with the wind at their backs begin to take control of the game and produced several early shots on the Southern Boone goal.  The Irish got on the board in the 26th minute when a Moses corner kick bounded around in the box until Luke Straus connected and buried his shot in the back of the net for the eventual game winner.  However, the Irish weren’t done, ten minutes later Reid Harbach connected on a rocket from outside the box to beat Haslag to the far post.  With the Eagles pushing players forward, looking to get back into the game, the Irish scored a third when Mitch Moncada got a break-a-way and made no mistake with his low shot to put the Irish out of reach.

With the quarterfinal victory, the Irish move to 27 – 0 -1 on the season and move on to face Fatima, a 2 – 1 victor over John F. Kennedy.  In the other Quarterfinal matches, Pemborke Hill got past St. Paul Lutheran 1 – 0, and St. Pius X (Festus) got past Crossroads College Preparatory School 1 – 0.

The State Finals will be Played in the Kansas City area for the first time.  Blue Springs and Blue Springs South will be hosting all three class finals.  The Class 1 seimfinals will be played at Blue Springs beginning wthe the St. Pius X vs Pembroke Hill game at 12:00 (noon) on Friday November 18, followed by the SCHS vs Fatima game at 2:00 p.m. The games Saturday will feature the 3rd place match beginning at 10:00 a.m at Blue Springs HS and the Finals being played at Blue Springs South HS at 2:00 p.m.

The Irish will host Southern Boone Country HS on Saturday, November 12, 4:00 p.m. at the Greenwood Stadium Field at the Cooper Sports Complex.  The Irish enter the game with a 26 -0 -1 record and the Southern Boone County Eagles enter the game with a 23 – 2 record.  The Irish and the Eagles both have wins over their two common opponents Ozark and Crocker.  The winner of the quarter-final match will face the winner of the John F. Kenedy vs Fatima match in the first-round of the State Playoffs at Blue Springs HS in Blue Springs, MO on Friday November 18, 2:00 p.m.

SCHS scored 3 goals in a 5 minute window in the first half of the Sectional game against Crocker to blow the game wide open.  The Irish got on board in the eleventh minute with a great individual effort by Luke Straus.  Straus struck a long-range shot from about 25 yards out that sailed over the keepers head.   Two minutes later Mitch Moncada got a flick-on header from Evan Craig to beat the keeper on the near post.  Then about two minutes later Reid Harbach struck from long-range effort to put the Irish out of reach.

The Irish went on to get goals from:  Evan Craig, Reilly Harbach (Dallas Moses), Luke Straus (Dallas Moses), Evan Craig (Dallas Moses) and Mitch Moncada (Reilly Harbach) for an 8 – 0 victory over Crocker.  The defense held the Crocker team to two shots on goal and preserved the shut-out for Irish Keeper James Straus.  With the victory the Irish improve to 26 – 0 – 1 on the season.

The Irish will host 2nd Ranked Southern Boone County in the State Quarter Final Match on Saturday.  Time/Location TBD.

KSPR Web Site Link written Story

KSPR Web Site Video Link

Congratulations Evan on all of your hard work both on and off the pitch!