TOWN AND COUNTRY – Joining a team striving for a third consecutive state championship can be intimidating for any freshman. Couple it with playing alongside a member of the U-17 USA National Team, and it can be downright scary.
But Cor Jesu freshmen Riley Smith, Finley Staats and Elin Austin have found their niche within a dynamic Cor Jesu starting unit, and the Chargers have not skipped a beat.
“They have brought an extra spark, a fire, and they are just ready to go every game,” Cor Jesu coach Rachel Brcic said.
Smith and Staats scored goals and Austin quarterbacked a smothering Chargers’ defense as Cor Jesu defeated Fort Zumwalt South 3-1 to repeat as champions of the second annual STL Champions League tournament Saturday at Maryville University.
Cor Jesu (12-0), which won its 27th match in a row, handed Fort Zumwalt South its first loss of the season.
“Kudos to Fort Zumwalt South, they played great,” Brcic said. “I’m glad we had this challenge. You need games like this. It was good for us to work through things and learn.”
Fort Zumwalt South (12-1) reached the state semifinals in Class 3 the previous five seasons, winning three state titles. The Bulldogs immediately displayed their ability to match the excellence of Cor Jesu, the back-to-back Class 4 champions.
Cor Jesu junior and USA U-17 National Team member Maddie DiMaria sprung loose 15 seconds in the match and blasted a right-footed rocket that was denied by a diving Jenna Walkenhorst, the Fort Zumwalt South junior goalkeeper.
Seven minutes later, a Cor Jesu corner kick delivery was headed inches wide by senior Roz Doherty. The Bulldogs survived a pair of golden opportunities by the top two scorers of Cor Jesu, and the game remained scoreless.
But Cor Jesu kept charging. In the 11th minute, DiMaria dribbled through defenders, reached the end line and scooted a left-footed pass into the box, where Smith was ready to blast it into the vacant net for a 1-0 lead.
“Maddie does that a lot. She’s great at getting it down to the end and crossing it back, so I just try to be there,” Smith said.
It was the third consecutive game Smith scored a goal, after netting just one in the previous nine games. She admits to wanting to force passes toward DiMaria early in the season but has since learned to complement the creativity of the 2024 National Gatorade Player-of-the-Year, while finding her own places to shine.
“At the beginning, we definitely looked for Maddie, but we’ve learned to work more as team, all working together,” Smith said.
Brcic is impressed with Smith’s rapid growth in such a short period of time.
“She’s making (in-game) adjustments on her own now, and it’s been really nice to see her get some success,” Brcic said.
Fort Zumwalt South had its own superstar to unleash. Junior Brielle Gilbert, who scored a hat trick in the state semifinals last season, escaped for dangerous scoring chances throughout the game.
Her soft pass to Jenna Mehrhoff in the box forced a brilliant, sliding save by Cor Jesu keeper Sarah Moore. Moments later, Moore stopped a laser from Gilbert streaking down the right side.
Defensively, Fort Zumwalt South senior Bridget Herwick stayed with DiMaria all over the field while freshman Lindsay Griffin and sophomore Ella Vaughn broke up plays if DiMaria escaped, and the game remained a one-goal margin through the first 36 minutes.
But late in the first half, a Cor Jesu shot originating from the end line deflected off a defender and landed at the feet of Doherty, who blasted in her 12th goal of the year from 12 yards away to give the Chargers a 2-0 lead at halftime.
For Doherty, who won the Virtuoso Award as the game’s most valuable player, the infusion of freshmen and the major contributions up and down the lineup have made this Cor Jesu squad equally as dangerous as in previous seasons.
“One of our strengths this year is that we have several different players that score goals,” Doherty said. “It’s awesome to see everyone step up and see (Moore) in goal making big saves. This team feels completely different than last year and it’s new and exciting.”
One of those new, exciting players is Staats, who penciled in her ninth goal of the season with a punishing left-footed blast after a slick give-and-go with Smith in the 51st minute.
Playing alongside DiMaria has allowed Staats to anticipate the remarkable, while exploring her own creativity.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is to think on the fly,” Staats said. “Maddie is so fast, she can dribble through anyone, and you never know when she’s going to play a through ball.”
Defensively, freshman Elin Austin played center back flawlessly, despite it not being her main position. She attacked balls in the air, steadied them on the bounce and delivered perfectly-paced passes to turn defense into offense.
“To control a back line like that as a freshman is hard to do,” Doherty said.
Gilbert finally was rewarded for her outstanding performance throughout the game when she was fouled in the box and converted a penalty kick to spoil the shutout. It marked her 17th goal of the season.
“As a team, they were very solid, they had some strong chances, and (Gilbert) gave us quite a challenge,” Brcic said of Fort Zumwalt South. “Our girls were able to adjust, but she still found ways to challenge us, even down to the end. They’re going to have a nice rest of the season as well.”
And the nice season for Cor Jesu has been aided by the outstanding play of freshmen who have assimilated into the Chargers’ championship culture seamlessly.
“It can be scary joining a team coming off two state championships. Those are hard shoes to step into,” said Doherty a three-year captain. “We told them, ‘We trust you, we know what you’re capable of, and we want you on the ball making plays.’ I’m really proud of them.”
For a photo gallery of this game, visit this link: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Girls-Soccer-2023-24/Girls-Soccer-2026/FZS-vs-Cor-Jesu-Champions-League
