LADUE – The passing skill displayed by the Webster Groves girls soccer team resembles an artful game of connect the dots, as seemingly each player gets a touch on the ball as they maneuver up the field.
But when Ladue muddled up the midfield passing lanes on Monday, the Statesmen found a different path from point A to point B – over the top.
Webster Groves altered its attack by playing the long ball, and Ella Esson cashed in with the game-winning goal as the Statesmen defeated Ladue 1-0 in a Class 3 District 2 quarterfinal Monday at Orrin S. Wightman IV Field on the campus of Ladue High School.
Webster Groves (13-5), which won its 11th consecutive game, advanced to play Visitation (11-6) in a District 2 semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Summit High School.
Ursuline (13-5-1) faces Cor Jesu (9-8-2) at 4 p.m. Thursday at Summit in the other District 2 semifinal – a district that houses five of the top eight ranked teams in Missouri Class 3.
Early in the contest, Ladue (13-7-2) took away the time and space that Webster Groves uses to conduct its artistry. The Rams clogged the midfield, pressured the ball and trusted their talented defenders, led by Southern Illinois-Edwardsville commit Taylor Babb, to clean up any mistakes.
A double-team by Ladue sophomore Balkis Prothro and freshman Darci Levinson sent Prothro in on her first scoring chance, but Webster Groves freshman Lucy Marsh caught up to Prothro to deny the opportunity.
More midfield mischief allowed Ladue junior Rian Cooper to send a pass ahead to a streaking Prothro, who directed a shot inches over the crossbar in the 13th minute.
“We kind of wanted to make it a junky game where they had to play balls over the top,” Ladue coach David Aronberg said. “I thought our girls followed the game plan as well as we could.”
Webster Groves senior captain Vivian Burke was the first to attempt a long-distance boot, blasting a ball 40 yards over the Ladue defense that created a scoring chance for senior Tori Gray.
“We had to start looking over (the top) to get it forward,” Webster Groves sophomore Adalyn Wilson said. “It’s a risk, but it’s a matter of trust that our forwards can get there, run it down and score a goal.”
A 50-yard, over-the-top pass by Wilson chased Ladue near its corner flag where an attempted clear by the Rams pinballed into the box. Sophomore Ava Marsh sent the ball goalward and freshman Ella Bredensteiner redirected the ricochet squarely into the left post.
Then, Esson corralled the rebound.
With her back to the goal, she patiently gathered the ball and her thoughts, turned to open space and fired it into the net in the 33rd minute.
“We all wanted to win this game and that’s why we had three girls up there, trying as hard as we could to get the ball in,” Esson said. “I just happened to be there at the right time.”
Ladue (13-7-2) had its best chance at the equalizer early in the second half when Rams’ freshman Si’Niya Walker and Webster Groves goalkeeper Emma Storck arrived at a bouncing ball at the same time. The ball squirted free, but Storck recovered and dove on it before a Ladue player could send it into the vacant net.
Despite its second half lead, Webster Groves continued to apply offensive pressure, and thus, allowed few additional opportunities for Ladue to build momentum.
“We’re not going to sit back. We’re going to keep pressing. That’s our style,” Webster Groves coach Matt Hearty said.
For Hearty, the change in tactics from precision passing to sending it deep was a necessary adjustment based on the aggressive Ladue approach.
“Ladue presses really hard and they made it difficult for us, but once we realized we could put earlier balls in behind, we felt that we had better chances of scoring that way,” Hearty said. “It may not be the way we do it all year, but tonight it was working.”
A long pass from Burke to a streaking Bredensteiner required a stellar, two-handed, diving save from Ladue sophomore goalkeeper Josie Patterson.
Patterson made another jaw-dropping save by tipping a Gretchen Daves header into the crossbar with her fingertips during a Webster Groves corner kick.
“(Patterson) played fantastic. She made amazing saves,” Aronberg said.
Ladue mounted one final push in the closing minutes, but Wilson blocked a shot, Marsh intercepted a pass and Storck secured two saves that originated from long distance to clinch the 11th consecutive victory for Webster Groves.
It is a Statesmen streak that began with a win over Ladue on April 13 in a match that senior captain Burke called a “turning point” after the Statesmen began the season with a 2-5 record.
“We were sick of losing. We all talked about it before that (Ladue) game and said we need to turn it around,” Burke said.
She added, “We found our groove.”
