FENTON – Stella Whitney seemingly had left everything on the field.
The Clayton junior scored one goal, earned the free kick opportunity that produced another, and in the final three minutes of regulation time, limped to the bench in obvious discomfort.
“The bottom of my foot was all ripped up and bleeding, but I just kept telling myself, ‘It’s the state championship,’ there’s nothing that I have to do tomorrow, there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from giving it my all today,” Whitney said.
Whitney re-entered the game in overtime, and 25 seconds later, assisted on the golden goal by sophomore Anna McAndrew as Clayton defeated St. Pius X – Kansas City 3-2 to win the Missouri Class 2 girls soccer state championship Saturday at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.
Clayton (13-10) won its first state title in girls soccer by earning another come-from-behind victory – its trademark throughout the playoffs.
The Greyhounds trailed in the second half in both their state quarterfinal and semifinal matches, and once again on Saturday, they conjured up the magic to find the tying goal.
“There’s no quit in them. They just don’t stop,” Clayton coach Brendan Taylor said.
St. Pius X-KC (22-6) took a late 2-1 lead when freshman Grayson Vacanti boomed a left-footed shot that found the top right corner of the net with 10:35 remaining in the contest.
The goal energized the St. Pius X players and fans. It also placed the Greyhounds in a familiar, comfortable place.
“It’s our thing,” McAndrew said. “We have the mentality to keep going, keep going, and if you keep going, it will pay off. Nobody wanted to give up.”
With a bloody bottom of her foot devoid of much of its skin, Whitney blasted a free kick that appeared to be perfectly-placed in the upper 90, but St. Pius X senior goalie Katherine Lewis leaped and tipped it over the crossbar.
With less than five minutes remaining, Whitney sprinted down the left side and earned a free kick near the penalty area. McAndrew stepped in to initiate the set piece from 25-yards away.
“I knew that we only had a little bit (of time) left in the game, and you only get those kind of chances once in a while, so I had to go for it,” McAndrew said.
With freshman Camille Matlock darting towards the back post, McAndrew sent the ball in the direction of her head, but the curve carried it away from the post and towards the goal where it settled in the upper right corner of the net to tie the game 2-2 with 4:40 remaining.
“I was so excited, but I knew it wasn’t over,” McAndrew said.
Whitney hobbled to the sideline soon thereafter and missed the remainder of regulation time and the first 11 minutes of overtime.
Meanwhile, St. Pius X went on the offensive.
A cross from Vacanti was sent wide by junior Lauren Vogt, a blast from freshman Caroline McCoy from the top the box also veered wide, and a hard shot unleashed by freshman Kate Sell required a sharp save from Clayton sophomore goalkeeper Marin Hoette.
“It could have easily gone either way. We just didn’t have the cards today,” St. Pius X coach Todd Ashby said.
After seeing the near-misses on the other end, Whitney approached her coach with extra cushion on the bottom of her foot and extra determination in her voice.
“I said, ‘Put me back in.’ I wanted to be the one to either win it or lose it for us,” Whitney said.
An interception in the midfield sent McAndrew away with the ball, where she split two defenders. She located Whitney, who dribbled into the box, drew three defenders and dropped a pass back to McAndrew at the top of the 18-yard box.
“I saw Anna coming and I thought, ‘She’s got the hot foot,’ Whitney said. “I immediately knew it was going in.”
McAndrew looped a shot over the outstretched arms of St. Pius X goalkeeper Katherine Lewis and into the back of the net setting off a celebratory dogpile in the precise spot where she uncorked her championship-winning shot.
“I’ll be excited to talk about this for the rest of my life. My kids will be hearing about this,” McAndrew said.
Whitney opened the scoring in the 11th minute when she accepted an over-the-top pass, dribbled to the middle, took an extra touch and from 16 yards away blasted a shot that put the Greyhounds ahead.
“It was one-on-one, I saw the goal and I took it,” Whitney said.
Two minutes later, St. Pius X responded when sophomore Kendra Roberts sent a cross to junior Macy Wilderson, whose shot deflected off a defender and scooted past Hoette to tie the game at 1.
The two connected on a nifty passing play early in the second half, but Wilderson’s shot pinged the crossbar.
And St. Pius X, which had only surrendered 12 goals on the season, continued to shut off Clayton passing lanes, led by outstanding defensive efforts by McCoy and senior Molly Cernich.
“We just played our same game, fantastic goalkeeper, fantastic defense, but we had to figure out what they were trying to do in the midfield. They played two attacking mids or two center mids and they would rotate off each other and it caused a little confusion for us,” Ashby said.
And it was the ability of Whitney and McAndrew to find space through the midfield, space that was nonexistent throughout most of the game, that ultimately sent Clayton home with a state title.
“It feels surreal to be able to bring a state championship back to Clayton and back to the community who came out big-time in support of us today. We couldn’t have done it without them,” Whitney said.
