Saxony Lutheran boys’ soccer writes history, shocks Notre Dame in instant classic

Saxony Lutheran senior forward Brayden Moore moments after netting the equalizer against rival Notre Dame on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at Notre Dame High School. The 3-2 triumph was the Crusaders' first win over Notre Dame in school history.

Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

Loud yells and a rush of cheers could be heard coming from the visitors’ sideline. Nearly 15 years since Saxony Lutheran and Notre Dame first met on the soccer field, the Crusaders were finally celebrating once the final horn sounded — an exercise in extreme catharsis.

Saxony Lutheran boys’ soccer was 0-19 in school history against rival Notre Dame entering Tuesday night, but a pair of improbable and emphatic last-minute goals propelled the Crusaders to end the dreaded losing streak in an epic come-from-behind 3-2 victory. It might have come against an 0-5 Bulldog team. It might have been ugly at times.

But, dang it, it felt good.

“That was probably one of the wildest finishes I've ever been a part of as the coach at Saxony, or maybe coaching soccer, period,” tenth-year head coach Chris Crawford said. “They've had our number and they've beaten us two-to-one and one-to-zero, and they've blown us out sometimes. I think after they scored that second goal, there was probably some people like, ‘oh, well here we go again.’ But our guys just weren't bought into that. They wanted a different story ending.”

One could not have scripted a better one.

The momentum was all in Notre Dame’s favor in the 75th minute when a wide-open Diego Chahin surged a go-ahead goal past Saxony goalkeeper Owen Buchheit to make it 2-1.

Then came the late-game heroics.

After Saxony (4-0) failed to threaten the Bulldog backline for most of the second half, senior forward Brayden Moore received a pass downfield in open space with an opportunity to net the equalizer as the clock read “1:00.” Moore, who swiftly fended off a Notre Dame defender, booted a shot that sailed into the back right corner of the net to send a shockwave through the Saxony crowd and knot things up at 2-2.

“I can’t even remember much,” said Moore with a smile. “It was just great to see the ball finally fall in the goal after missing a few times earlier in the game.”

Next came junior Maksim Mayhew’s time to live the dream.

After Saxony Lutheran quickly regained possession with less than 30 seconds left, Mayhew received a pass downfield as he corralled near the net. With his side to goal and a Notre Dame defender marking him tightly on the corner of the six-yard box, Mayhew headed the ball into the upper-left corner of the net with 21 seconds left to seal a 3-2 win for the Crusaders and cement one of the greatest games in school history.

But the 79th-minute winner that essentially walked it off for Saxony was beyond the stuff of Mayhew’s dreams. The midfielder never dared to dream of this.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Mayhew said. “I wasn't getting guarded. I was wide open, so I just went up there and jumped. I didn't think I'd be there, but I had an opportunity. So, I just headed it to the back of the net. It was seriously amazing.”

Junior Weston Jeter scored the first goal of the evening for Saxony with 20 seconds left in the first half. Chahin netted both of Notre Dame’s goals in the game.

The win leaves Saxony Lutheran with an unblemished 4-0 record on the season, catapulting them as one of the early top contenders in Southeast Missouri.

Saxony’s mindset entering Tuesday night’s match was not necessarily pinpointed on the losing streak or the “Notre Dame problem” mantra, but rather, trying to treat it as just another game. However, there’s no such thing as overshadowing a rivalry game. It always means a little more.

“Anytime Saxony and Notre Dame play there's a little bit extra fire,” Crawford said. “I don’t know that any game between these two is a normal game. It's a rivalry. There's years where we've been really good and they haven't been as good, and they've still beaten us.

“We tried to keep it as normal as possible. We do the same things, we keep our routine, we handle our business the same way. But, anytime you're playing your rival from the only other private school in the town, there's a little bit of an extra edge.”

The Crusaders will aim to carry the momentum into Sikeston when they take on the Bulldogs in a 4 pm match next Monday, Sept. 23. Notre Dame, still in search of its first win of the young season, hosts Farmington on Thursday evening, Sept. 19 at 6:30 pm.

Senior defender Jonathan Pfeiffer believes that the sky is the limit for him and his Saxony Lutheran teammates moving forward.

“This is a great group,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of returning players that know what they're doing, and we got a family that loves each other and people that'll be behind our back at all times. And I think it's one of the best teams. Me personally, I'm a senior, so I have a little bias, but I think it's a great team and we played our hearts out on the field tonight.”