FENTON – Veritas Christian senior Ashton Temple is not a fan of overtime.
“I hate it. There’s so much pressure,” he said.
Temple certainly enjoyed a playoff run in which the Eagles won every game by at least three goals, but when Class 1 semifinal opponent Metro tied the match in the final minutes Saturday, Temple had to stare down his fear.
“We’ve worked for four years to get to this moment,” Temple said.
Temple seized the moment by scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime to give Veritas Christian a 2-1 victory over Metro in a Class 1 Missouri State High School Activities Association semifinal Saturday at Soccer Park in Fenton.
Veritas Christian (21-5) advanced to its first state championship game in program history and will face Lone Jack (18-7) at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Class 1 title match.
Lone Jack also made some late-game magic, as senior Trayton Hook scored the game-winner with 37 seconds remaining to defeat Laquey/Richland 1-0 in the other Class 1 semifinal.
Metro (14-6) will face Laquey/Richland (13-11) in the third-place game at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Metro dominated possession during the first overtime, but strong defense by Veritas Christian kept the Panthers away from high danger scoring areas. Early in the second overtime, Veritas Christian found its opportunity.
Senior Daniel Kassebaum headed a pass sideways to senior Jesse Bockhorst who headed it towards the back post, where a streaking Temple buried the airborne ball into the back of the net with one swing of his right leg.
“Jesse and Daniel, we three are good friends, and we always wanted to do something like that. It’s nice that it finally happened,” Temple said.
Veritas Christian, formerly O’Fallon Christian located in O’Fallon, MO, broke a scoreless deadlock when freshman Levi Schroer delivered a perfect cross that found the head of junior C.J. Heath in the 61st minute. The goal invigorated a Veritas Christian student section that seemed to include every member of the school and a full cheerleading squad.
“The atmosphere was nothing I’ve ever experienced,” Schroer said.
Metro brought its own massive cheering section that nervously endured 78 minutes of rain-soaked tension before finally erupting when freshman Hartman Johnson drove a shot off a Veritas Christian defender that soared into the goal with 1 minute 32 seconds to play.
Johnson is one of 11 freshmen on a Metro team that started the season with a 5-0 record, then lost four consecutive games, before going on a feverish run to the state semifinals.
“In a lot of ways, besides the result, this game mirrored our season,” Metro coach Bee Arens said. “We got off to a hot start, then we got scored on, and there’s this little moment of doubt, ‘Are we less than we were before? Can we do this?’ And then we fought back.”
Metro applied immense pressure in the first overtime with calm, combination passing led by sophomore Elai Hefer and junior Hamza Kugic. A blistering shot by Hefer required a diving save from Veritas Christian goalkeeper Boyd Jenkins.
“My Garmin (watch) was telling me my resting heart rate was too high. It was telling me to sit down,” Arens said.
But in the end, it was Temple who relaxed the hatred he felt for overtime and lifted Veritas Christian into its first state title game appearance.
“Some teams always seem to go to state championships, but we’ve been working with this team for four years to put our name on that field, and now we’re here,” Temple said.
For a photo gallery of Metro vs Veritas Christian click this link: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Soccer/Boys-Soccer-2025/Metro-vs-Veritas-Christian-112125
Class 2: Shepherd Thomas steers Principia into state title match with late goal against Perryville
Senior Shepherd Thomas headed in a corner delivery from Fernando Martinez Marinero with just 1:57 remaining in regulation to give Principia a 2-1 victory over Perryville in a Class 2 semifinal.
Principia (14-11), which won state titles in 2015 and 2019, will face Springfield Catholic (29-1) for the Class 2 title at 4 p.m. Saturday at Soccer Park in Fenton.
Perryville led 1-0 at halftime on a goal by sophomore Ethan Pohlman, but Principia responded three minutes into the second half on a right-footed blast by sophomore Jemoi Blackman before Thomas put home the game-winner in the final two minutes.
Perryville (15-5) will face Harrisonville (15-9) in the third-place game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
For a photo gallery of Principia vs Perryville click this link: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Soccer/Boys-Soccer-2025/Principia-vs-Perryville-11-21-25
Class 3: Fort Zumwalt East makes best of first semifinal berth with win over Summit
Christopher Zelaya and Jacob Phillips scored first half goals, and Hudson Kocher made 11 saves as Fort Zumwalt East defeated Summit 2-0 in a Class 3 semifinal.
Fort Zumwalt East (18-5-1) will face Van Horn (24-1) in the Class 3 championship match at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Soccer Park in Fenton.
Zelaya blasted a right-footed bender from outside the box to open the scoring in the 20th minute. Phillips accepted a header from Tyler Baxter, split two Summit defenders, escaped on a partial breakaway and ripped a shot into the net in the 32nd minute.
Summit (13-10) will face Summit Christian (25-4) at 12:15 p.m. Saturday at Soccer Park in Fenton.
For a photo gallery of Fort Zumwalt East vs Summit, click this link: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Soccer/Boys-Soccer-2025/Summit-vs-Fort-Zumwalt-East-11-21-25
Class 4: SLUH puts clamps on Fort Zumwalt West, seeks back-to-back state titles
Barrett Urban blasted a left-footed shot in the 30th minute and the SLUH defense closed the door as the Jr. Bills defeated Fort Zumwalt West 1-0 in a Class 4 semifinal.
SLUH (23-3-2) will look to repeat as state champions against undefeated Rockhurst (23-0-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Soccer Park in Fenton. The teams have combined to win 14 state titles since 1998 (Rockhurst 10, SLUH 4).
Fort Zumwalt West (19-4-2) will face Park Hill South (18-6) in the third-place game at 5 p.m. Saturday.
For a photo gallery of SLUH vs Fort Zumwalt West click this link: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Soccer/Boys-Soccer-2025/SLUH-vs-Fort-Zumwalt-West-11-21-25