WEBSTER GROVES – Prior to the district tournament, the Webster Groves boys soccer team had no player who scored more than six goals during the season.
“It’s been goal scoring by committee,” Statesmen coach Tim Velten said.
That committee found its chair.
Senior Jake Clifton scored a career-high four goals to power Webster Groves to a 5-0 victory over Pacific in a Class 3 District 2 semifinal Thursday at Moss Field.
Webster Groves (10-12), the No. 2 seed, advanced to play top-seeded Summit (11-9) at 11 a.m. Saturday for the district championship.
“We got sent home in the semis the past two years, so to finally break through, it feels amazing,” Clifton said.
Summit received the first career hat trick from senior Nick Nusser to defeat Mehlville 4-2 in the other Class 3 District 2 semifinal. Nusser’s second goal was followed by a perfect cartwheel and backflip before arriving at the corner flag to celebrate with his teammates.
“It was an unreal feeling, especially on that second goal when I hit that backflip. That was sick,” Nusser said. “My adrenaline was through the roof.”
Summit and Webster Groves have split their previous eight meetings, including a 2-1 Summit victory in a 2019 state semifinal en route to a Class 3 state championship. Webster Groves defeated Summit 1-0 in the 2022 district championship game on the way to a Class 3 state title of its own.
Clifton, the only freshman on that 2022 state title team, and the rest of the Statesmen came out flying Thursday. Shots by Crosby MacMullan and Jack Silverman missed the frame by inches, and Pacific goalie Ian Goodwin made three brilliant saves, including the denial of a breakaway rocket from senior Harper McEvoy.
“Their goalie was phenomenal. He made some unbelievable saves,” Velten said. “I thought we did pretty well getting in, our shots were tucked to the corner, and he was coming out of nowhere. Kudos to him. He was awesome.”
Pacific (16-6), which set a program record for wins in a season, started to mount pressure of its own when 18-goal scorer Gage Clark broke free and ripped a laser that required an excellent save from Webster Groves goalie Marcus Terri.
Clark, who scored the game-winner in double overtime during the Indians’ 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Gateway STEM, along with 21-goal scorer Lucas Tennyson, became scoring threats midway through the first half.
“Those two guys up top – I was sleepless last night,” Velten said. “Our guys did a good job staying with them, but as good as we were, they still got loose, and our goalie had to make some really good saves on them.”
The near misses by Pacific temporarily slowed down the Statesman until late in the first half when Clifton clanged the perfect shot. Moving to his left, he arrived at the top of the box and delivered a left-footed missile that hit the underbelly of the crossbar and ricocheted straight down over the goal line to give Webster Groves a 1-0 lead at halftime.
“It was a big goal by Jake to break the seal a little bit,” Velten said.
The late goal seemed to relax the Statesmen, and they emerged from halftime with a sense of peaceful intensity.
“We had a lot of chances but they weren’t falling, so at halftime we talked about calming down, settling in and coming out with energy,” Clifton said.
It did not take long for Clifton to set the agenda.
He chased down a pleasantly-paced pass from McEvoy, beat a streaking Goodwin to the ball and squirted it past him just 46 seconds into the second half. Two minutes later, he got loose in the box and delivered another rocket to achieve the first hat trick of his four-year varsity career.
“We got one early and (the goals) just started to fall from there,” Clifton said.
After McEvoy knocked home a rebound to make it 4-0, Clifton struck again. Double-teamed with his back to the goal, he pushed the ball out to his left and then ripped a shot against the grain, beyond the outstretched left arm of Goodwin and into the corner of the net for his fourth goal of the match.
“I think the last one was my favorite,” said Clifton, who scored multiple goals in a game for the third time in his career.
For Velten, the magical night from Clifton was impressive, but not shocking.
“He was in a zone. I’ve never seen him score four goals in a game like that, but when he gets in a zone, he’s tough to stop. There are not many people who can stay with him,” Velten said.
Webster Groves has been in a zone since a 1-6 start to the season that included four one-goal losses, including a 1-0 setback on Sept. 5 to Summit – Saturday’s district championship opponent. The Statesman will enter the title match as winners of five or their last six and having outscored opponents 21-2 in that span.
“We had a slow start, but I’ve been here long enough to know when the talent is there, and I knew the talent was here all along,” Clifton said. “I’m proud of the boys for staying with it all season and it’s starting to pay off.”
Record-setting season for Pacific
The year was also a source of pride for Pacific, which won its first 10 games of a season for the first time in program history. The winning streak included a 2-1 victory in PKs over Rolla, a team the Indians had lost to 16 straight times since 2009 and had never beaten since the program’s inception.
“It’s a senior-heavy team and they all circled Rolla as a team they wanted to beat, so that was pretty special,” Pacific coach Steve Smith said.
During the bus ride to Webster Groves on Thursday, Smith looked out the window and saw a youth soccer game being played on the grass field at Pacific High School.
“I thought, ‘The middle of November? Youth soccer teams playing out there? This is what you guys are doing – the legacy you are setting,’” Smith said.
He added, “Pacific tends to be known as a football school, maybe basketball and volleyball to an extent, but we’re a soccer school, too.”
For a photo gallery from this game, click on the link below:
https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Soccer/Boys-Soccer-2025/Pacific-vs-Webster-Groves-C3D2-semis