Gremlins lose heartbreaker in state quarterfinal

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS — With his face buried in his hands in the  postgame huddle, goalkeeper Takeshi Ishizawa summed up Sacred Heart’s night after a tough 2-1 loss to St. Pius X in the Class 1 state quarterfinals.

A night that began with an opening goal from Wes Register ended with teary-eyed fans, players and family watching the Warriors celebrate a win that narrowly escaped the Gremlins’ grasp.

“They’re a good team, they controlled the ball well and they’re fast,” Sacred Heart coach Carlos McField said. “They have a ton of team speed and they just controlled the possession and played well. We had our opportunities, but they just didn’t fall into place.”

Despite dominating the possession and outshooting Sacred Heart 15-7, the Warriors, used to playing larger West Central Conference opponents, couldn’t shake a smaller Sacred Heart team.

But in the end, mistakes proved to be the decisive factor.

Despite making a slew of saves, Ishizawa couldn’t corral a shot in the 49th minute. Matthew Orallo cleaned up the mess and deposited the ball into the open net for what proved to be the winning goal.

“They were constantly pressuring with five mids and two forwards,” defender Jon Starke said. “We matched up well with them and kept the game close. They just got lucky on a goal that should have never happened. We’re just as good, if not better, than that team.”

Three minutes into the contest, the Warriors’ goalkeeper misplayed a Register throw-in but collected himself just in time to block a point-blank header from Chris Pottorff.

St. Pius X regrouped and dominated the possession with clean traps, crisp passes and solid communication. Grant Geary, Andrew Meinking and Connor Parrish all got off clear shots in the opening 20 minutes, but Gremlin defenders Brent Gerke, Bradley O’Connor, Starke and Nate Bailey kept the pressure outside the box, forcing long, errant shots.

On his heels for the first 20 minutes, Sacred Heart’s Lakin Kehde found space in the open field and his aggressiveness earned a free kick just outside the box on the field’s right side. The sophomore’s cross was deflected in the center of the box, finding the right foot of Register. The junior midfielder deposited the kick just inside the far left post, giving the Gremlins (18-7) a 1-0 lead 21 minutes into the contest.

“(The deflection) just kind of came to me and I took advantage of the opportunity,” Register said.

Undaunted, the Warriors continued to attack, pushing the ball up the field with calculated ball control. Off a throw-in the 26th minute, they found their opportunity to knot the score. Parrish outmaneuvered two Sacred Heart defenders in the box, setting up a Geary laser that found the back left side of the net.

Camped in Sacred Heart territory, the Warriors suffered a series of near-misses, and the teams went into the half deadlocked at 1.

Kehde opened up the second half with a breakaway up the left side, but just outside the box, he was tripped up by his own feet after trying to set up for the shot.

St. Pius X answered with a few scoring opportunities of its own, highlighted by a Geary header that hit the left crossbar.

The Warriors continued to attack at will and in the 49th minute, the mistake from the normally sure-handed Ishizawa gave the Warriors control of the match.

After assuming the lead, the Warriors put a hold on the up-tempo offense and put an emphasis on defense by dropping their midfielders back. The Gremlins threatened with a Register header in the 69th minute, but Cook was there to wrap up the save.

Kehde, Cline and Pottorff jockeyed for position downfield in the waning moments, but to no avail, as the whistle blew on Sacred Heart’s season.

“This is just something to build on. We know what we have to do now, what the next steps are going to be to be one of those final four teams next year,” McField said.