LADUE – The chicken shawarma never tasted so good for Ahmad Shebl and the Ladue boys soccer team.
Shortly after Shebl delivered the district championship-winning goal in double overtime on Thursday, his mother delivered a cooler full of her famous, homemade shawarma to the field.
“I’m from Egypt, and my mom said if we win today, she’s going to get the whole team shawarma,” Shebl said.
Shebl found a pocket inside the stout Westminster defense and marinated the game-winner with 1:48 remaining in double overtime to propel Ladue to a 1-0 victory over the Wildcats in the Class 3 District 3 championship game at Ladue High School.
Ladue (20-6), the defending Class 3 state runner-up, won its 11th district title in 13 seasons, and will face either Hannibal (25-2) or Fort Zumwalt South (13-11-1) in a district quarterfinal on Saturday, Nov. 16.
Shebl’s goal came on the 13th corner kick of the game for Ladue and third in a two-minute span. A service by sophomore Jose Sanchez pinged between players stationed in the box before settling near the feet of Shebl approximately 16 yards away from the goal.
“I saw the ball come down to me, and I just smashed it,” Shebl said. “I saw it go in and I just ran.”
Westminster (14-7-1), the defending Class 2 state champion, was playing shorthanded. The Wildcats lost five starters to injury throughout the season, including two during the district tournament.
But a courageous performance by the Westminster back line and an amazing 20-save masterpiece by junior goalkeeper Jacob Stinebaker kept Ladue off the scoreboard for over 108 minutes.
On several occasions, Stinebaker made a save that left Ladue players standing in disbelief, most notably, a full-extension, Superman dive that allowed his right hand to deflect a certain goal from Ladue junior Andy Schulte in the 54th minute.
“Their goalie was the man of the match. He played out of his mind,” Ladue coach David Aronberg said. “I thought there were three or four shots that should have been goals that he made amazing saves on.”
The Westminster defense, led by senior Landon Cassidy and junior Patrick Jacobs, bent but did not break. They applied double teams to Ladue midfield wizard Avi Levin, blocked numerous shot attempts and won the airspace on a bevy of Ladue corner kick deliveries.
“A lot of guys stepped up,” Westminster coach Dan Legters said. “All we needed was one shot on goal, for them to make one mistake, to get to PKs. We did more than give ourselves a chance.”
Westminster began to produce its own scoring chances in the second half. A free kick delivery from senior Blake Musielak was headed on goal by junior Adriel Monga and required a sharp save from Ladue junior goalkeeper Seaton Thompson. With four minutes remaining in regulation, a 22-yard blast from senior Daniel Coco sailed inches wide and produced a harmonizing gasp from both benches and the hundreds in attendance.
But in the extra sessions, wave upon wave of Ladue pressure engulfed the Wildcats. Early in the first overtime, a cross from Sanchez to a wide-open Levin was headed into the chest of Stinebaker. In the final seconds, a Ladue corner kick was redirected past Stinebaker, but the left leg of junior Seth Chapell denied it from crossing the goal line.
“We knew we were going to get one chance on goal that the keeper wouldn’t be able to save,” Shebl said. “When you put that much pressure on the goal, you’re going to score eventually.”
Before the teams switched sides to begin the second 15-minute session, Aronberg predicted how the game would be won.
“We talked about it before the second overtime. and I said, ‘It’s going to happen on a corner kick.’”
The first two corner kicks were attainable by the double-fisted Stinebaker, but the crowd in front of him was too thick to reach Sanchez’s third delivery. He still made a diving save to stop the initial shot, but the rebound traveled to Shebl for a 16-yard rocket that ended the game less than two minutes before it reached the penalty kick stage.
“It was such a weight off my shoulders,” said Sanchez, who was denied by two miraculous Stinebaker saves earlier in the game. “I was thinking, ‘We might have to go to penalty kicks and I might have to take one. I really wanted to win for these seniors. I love this team. I did not want our season to end.”
Westminster’s season did come to an end, but with a performance that showed the heart of a defending state champion.
“To shutout a very strong, attacking team like Ladue for over 100 minutes is a hard task, but we were up for it,” Legters said. “The loss hurts, but there’s a lot of pride in the way they performed, the way they handled the situation.”
For Aronberg, the raucous atmosphere and intense competition were the perfect ingredients for a memorable district championship game.
“This is what high school soccer’s about. Hundreds of fans, double overtime game, it doesn’t get much better,” he said.
Until the chicken shawarma arrives.
For a full photo gallery: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Soccer/Boys-Soccer-2024/Westminster-vs-Ladue-C3D3-11-7-24-