Saxony’s superb seniors send Crusaders past Laquey, claiming third-place trophy

Saxony's Katie Swain gives Saxony's Camille Richey a big hug celebrating the Class 1 girls third place soccer match on Saturday, June 1, 2024, at Soccer Park in St. Louis County, Mo. Saxony defeated Laquey 2-0.

Gordon Radford ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

At the start of the postseason, veteran Crusaders coach Chris Crawford has a rather straightforward message for his Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team.

No matter what, they were going to win on Saturday at the state tournament.

Whether it was the first-place game or the third-place game – it didn’t matter, and it showed as the Crusaders pushed past Laquey for third in a 2-0 Saturday victory.

A perfect send-off game for a senior class that redefined the program after a rough stretch, Crawford acknowledged how special this group was following its second state trophy in as many years.

“They drag everybody up with them,” Crawford said. “They take people that might not want that, and they showed what they could do and and how it is to work for something you want.

“I'm just really proud of them.”

Mallory Kohlfield, part of that eight-deep senior class, had the game-winning goal in the 46th minute of the third-place game as she put away an assist from junior Faith Dreyer.

Fellow junior Camille Richey tacked on an insurance goal 14 minutes later, giving Saxony the edge it needed to claim the bronze medals in Fenton, Missouri.

Just three years ago, in the post-pandemic 2021 season, the Crusaders finished with a measly 4-15 record, a far cry from the state championships of yore back in 2015 and 2016.

Part of a program that’d slipped from its dominant status a half-decade prior, the 2024 class worked valiantly to push the Crusaders back to where they had been, despite the uphill battle.

That senior class includes Annie Adams, Clara Brune, Maci Hollis, Mallory Kohlfield, Payton Meier, Grace Ozark, Kylie Peters and Katie Swain.

Two years later, when it resulted in a bronze medal, that work had culminated in a return to form for such a legendary area program, and they doubled down in 2024 with another win at state.

Now, with the hindsight of four years of hard work to push Saxony back to the final four and great respect within the region, it’s safe to say that those eight have succeeded in their fight.

“They had to grow a lot that first year that they were in the program,” Crawford said.

“They won four games as freshmen, and each year they kept getting better, kept improving and kept working really hard.”

It’s easy to focus on those who scored more goals or made a bigger impact on the field, but Crawford insisted that their leadership was top-to-bottom all the way.

No matter their contrasting personalities, different on-field impacts or different career accolades, it’s impossible to argue that this group didn’t work to raise Saxony back to prominence over the past four seasons.

“It's hard to say that there was one leader in that group when all eight of them gave us something totally different,” Crawford said.

“They always gave everything they had.”