Saint Thomas Aquinas Boys Soccer 2024

Game 9: (4-4-1) 28 September vs. Columbia Rock Bridge (2-3 in 2 OT's) 2024 Stats EKL Standings We were coming off two double overtime matches this week to play the 5th-ranked team in Missouri, Columbia Rock Bridge (8-1). We also had a bit of wind, with winds somewhere between 17 and 24 mph. We played pretty darn well, though. Once again, we went into double overtime, however; this time we lost on just a great free kick with a little over four minutes left in the final OT. We still need to regain our defensive swagger; we are giving up too many goals per match right now.  We won't beat many good teams, giving up three goals in a match. Liam Lynch, however, gave us a very good match, playing right back for a lot of the game. And that's the position where we are replacing one of our best players, Bobby Bjorseth.  Centerback, Miles Laws, earned Man of the Match honors, scoring our first goal, playing just a tremendous match, and flicking opportunity after opportunity on throw-i

Game 8: (4-3-1) 24 September vs. Olathe South at ODAC (4-3 in double overtime) 2024 Stats EKL Standings We entered today's match against an Olathe South team that has played the best teams in the city to one-goal matches. We had added Noah Morgan to our injury list. So, Michael was to have replaced him in the starting lineup, with Oliver and Grady getting the call-up. We, however, had a player late, so Michael started at the "6," and Lynch went to left back. I know we have been playing many minutes and games with a tiny bench. We came out a bit lethargic (not too surprising) and paid an immediate price, giving up an early goal. To our credit, we tied it up 12 minutes later on just a great goal: Omar bent a ball back post from 30 for a Siebert head ball. We came out in the second half and played well. With four minutes left in the match, we led 3-1, and that was with a goal called back for a questionable "offsides."  And then—inexplicably, we gave up two bad goal

Game 7: (3-3-1) 24 September 2024 at Bishop Miege at 6:30 (1-1, 2OT's)  2024 Stats EKL Standings Last Match at Miege against the Huppes You might notice the starting lineup highlights a new injury: goalie Parker Lehn, who was hurt in the BV Southwest match. We welcomed Hank to the starting line-up and Greyson's return. Brody moved wide, and Omar took over the "9" spot as we hoped to remind everyone of our former selves tonight.  It was quite a match. We got off to a slow start, giving up three corners in the first five minutes, and they scored on the second one. It was a bit disappointing as it is the same 2-man variation that we run with a pass to the player at the top of the 18 for a shorter cross. We usually have a man mark that position—not sure why we did not mark here. We still were not great for the next 15 minutes, but we had a 45-minute lightning break, which helped. We met, talked about some things, and came back out to play some very nice and tough soccer.

Game 6: (3-3-0) 19 September 2024 at BV Southwest (2-7)  2024 Stats EKL Standings We arrived at Southwest with quite a task in front of us. I don't recall missing so many starters for a varsity soccer match, ever. Yes, we have been without Andsew, Santiago, and Nate all year, but we now add Bobby, Greyson, and Jaden to that list. That's a hunk. And—I was serving my red card suspension, but with Hamms in charge and Grow, Zande, Ragsdale, and Eric helping out, that absence seemed minor compared to the missing players. We were overwhelmed early, falling behind 2-0 during the early minutes of the half. We tried to make a few adjustments in the back half, but our play did not improve. We did get two nice finishes from Joseph, his second and third goals of the season. His second goal of this match came from a nice give-and-go with David. It was a pretty goal. Our back four, goalie and our defensive midfield have been the key to our success going into this match, but they were more of

Game 5: (3-2-0) 14 September vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (2-2) at 3:00 (3-1) 2024 Stats EKL Standings Saints Alums with 2024 Varsity We came into the third and final day of the Saints Classic, playing well but exhausted. The match reinforced both items. Kapaun jumped on us early, even though Parker set up perfectly. We appear to block the shot away from him.  But before that, we lost Bobby Bjorseth, as his leg had started swelled up. He would not be able to play any more of the match. The good news was Kitts did make the match. We were able insert some fresh legs into the lineup to stay pretty solid in the back we thought. But his stamina would only allow him to play, but about, ten minutes at a time.  We actually had to call Oliver Sarmiento and Alex Fuentes, two of our extended guys, to have them suit up for the second half. We needed reinforcements. We did respond to the Crusaders' quick start. Janeway scored the tying goal and then assisted David Weinberg on the Game-Winning Goal (a

Game 4: (2-2-0) 13 September vs. Manhattan (1-2) at 6:00 PM (2-0) 2024 Stats EKL Standings Omar Returns from the RedZone to notch an assist. We entered the second day of the Saints Classic fresh off a good win over Garden City. We met up with Manhattan, which had just upset BV North on Thursday, 2-1.   We did get Omar back to start at left wing, but Kitts' illness has become more severe than we first anticipated, so we did not have him for the match. Michael Doerfler had a pretty solid day yesterday, but he is also the varsity kicker on the Saints football team (28-7 winners over st. James)—so he is unavailable on those Friday nights of our season. We inserted Oliver Sarmiento into that right-back slot, and off we went. (The Sarmiento brothers are only the third brothers in Saints Thomas Aquinas' 37 year history to start a varsity game. The other two were the Theis twins back in 1993 and the Crooks' brothers in 2009.) The first 10 minutes were definitely worth watching, as

Game 3 (1-2-0) 12 September vs. Garden City (1-0) 2024 Stats EKL Standings The first match of the Saints Classic this year would be quite a challenge for us. We came in 0-2 and had yet to score a goal this season. Yet, we had played pretty well, as we only had allowed one goal in each match.   But a strange illness has been going around the junior class. Owen Kitts missed the game with it. Noah Morgan and Brody Siebert just came back from it. Bobby Bjorseth still had it, but played.  Add the fact that Omar had to serve his red card suspension tonight—well, that compounded the matters more. We were very proud of our play tonight. We earned a shutout of a very creative and offensive-minded team. What an incredible stat.  When you add that Miles played close to half the match at the "9," we really have to highlight how well Bjorseth and Rutter played centerback. In fact, Greyson became one of our Men of Match.  Michael Doerfler and Noah Morgan manned the wing fullback position,

Game 2: (0-2-0) 5 September vs. Rockhurst at home (0-1) 2024 Stats EKL Standings How enjoyable has our Rockhurst Rivalary been—just extraordinary. Yes, this match used to draw 5,000 fans, complete with football-team cookouts and coaches coming in from all over the country, but Coach Pribyl's TOP DAWG tourney is no more. Oh, and tonight, the Chiefs play on NBC to open the NFL season at 7:20. So, a bit less than 5,000. But Halo did broadcast the match, so some people around the country got to watch both. It was a match that almost did not start, with lightning in the area. But the skies parted, the rain and lighting left, and it was a great night for soccer. And really, we had quite a match with very few opportunities to score for either team. We both had a few. The match was nearly 60 minutes in and still scoreless when our left wing picked up his second yellow card. So from that point on, we had to play the Rock with only 10 guys. We thought our guys played so well and so hard thos