St. Vincent girls soccer sizzles past Lone Jack in semifinal, heads back to Class 1 title contest

St. Vincent forward Corin Carroll (21) battles through a Lone Jack defender during a Class 1 girls soccer semifinal Wednesday afternoon at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri. Carroll scored twice in the Indians' 5-1 win.

Matthew Hicks ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

KANSAS CITY, Mo -- The St. Vincent girls soccer team always tries to remember its club motto, "First Five," at the same key points of any game they play.

They're the first five minutes of any half, or right after somebody scores a goal. Those are the most dangerous times of any match, forward Corin Carroll said, moments when confidence and momentum can get magnified and things can get out of control. Do your best to control those five-minute sequences, and you can control the outcome of the match.

For the second straight year, the "First Five" philosophy has helped to carry St. Vincent to its final fight of its season, the championship game of the Class 1 girls soccer state tournament. After beating Lone Jack 5-1 in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon on the hottest day of the season, St. Vincent plays Principia today at 2 p.m. for the big prize at Swope Soccer Village.

2018 MSHSAA Class 1 Girls Soccer Championship Swope Village, Kansas City, Missouri

Defender Katie Schnurbusch is feeling positive about her team's chances of improving its 19-6-1 record and repeating as Class 1 champions.

"I'm ready. I feel on top of the world and ready to go," Schnurbusch said. "I think we're ready to get it done. It'd be the best thing ever to win again. As a senior, this is the way I want to go out. I think the underclassmen want it too, just as bad."

Including wins at tournaments and other games played against Kansas teams that the MSHSAA does not count, Lone Jack (16-3) came in with a 21-game winning streak. The Mules, who are making their first-ever appearance in a soccer semifinal for a school that hadn't sent any team sport to a state event since 2006, have a pool of about 80 girls to fill their roster.

St. Vincent was able to come at Lone Jack in waves, Mules coach Bryan Davenport said.

"That team transitions from offense to defense very quickly," he said. "Their transition is what won the game for them. They're also very good on the outside attack. I was happy that we didn't allow any of their goals on corner kicks."

Carroll scored St. Vincent's first two goals, with Schnurbusch, Abby Buchheit and Jenna Winkler -- all seniors -- also finding the back of the net.

The Indians kept Lone Jack's top scorers, freshman Kayda Kamholz and senior Kennedy Herlock, off the board, though Kamholz assisted on Jenna Jordan's goal.

2018 MSHSAA Class 1 Girls Soccer Championship Swope Village, Kansas City, Missouri

About 90 seconds after Carroll's second goal -- within one of those five-minute arcs -- Kamholz took advantage of a St. Vincent turnover and nearly cut the lead in half, but missed wide from about 15 yards out.

"That was a wakeup call to keep our intensity up," said Winkler.

"She's tough, she's very quick, she made good runs. We just kind of pinched in the middle, and the outside backs, we'd double cover or switch off with her, depending on which side. She was so very quick."

St. Vincent led 3-0 at halftime, though coach Caitlin Pistorio said it didn't feel like it. Lone Jack persisted in making St. Vincent work for the result.

"That was a team, if they get one or two breakaways, they were right back in it," Pistorio said. "We played the entire game with the mindset that it's nothing-nothing."

Lone Jack found the back of the net 46 seconds into the second half when Jordan used her head from in close via a quick ball from Kamholz.

"We talked about it at halftime," Pistorio said. "We said these first five minutes were going to be key -- they always are. ... God forbid they score in the first five minutes, we can't get down, we can't let that defeat us. ... If they score that goal, they're going to be mentally back in it. We knew we'd have to shake it off and use our short-term memory."

St. Vincent clamped down on defense, and didn't stop going on the offensive, either. The Indians' best attacking sequence probably came in the 51st minute, when Buchheit scored via a perfect 25-yard pass from Megan Hennemann to make it 4-1.

"That was gorgeous," Pistorio said. "We practice so many cross-and-finish drills, to get one like that in a game situation is always beautiful."

Winkler put home the final goal, in the 70th minute, on a free kick from the top of the arc. Winkler said she noticed that keeper Tara Conrad was still setting up Lone Jack's wall, and not in the best position to defend when the official gave Winkler clearance to shoot.

"Exciting to score, but my teammates set me up for it," Winkler said.

Not that it's time to celebrate -- not with the biggest game of the season coming so quickly.

"Now, we forget about this game," Schnurbusch said. "We have to hydrate. It's going to be even hotter tomorrow. We have to mentally think about what our role is and how we're going to execute it. And how we're going to come together as a team to get it done.

"We're going to enjoy our time together, our last night together. And make sure we hydrate. Not too crazy, but we'll still have fun being together."

Carroll said it might be better to not worry about going over Principia video.

"If we play our game, then there's not that many problems we'll face," Carroll said.

Principia (10-8) defeated Fatima 3-0 in Wednesday's other semifinal.