By Kai Raymer
After having their senior night spoiled by Parkview, the Glendale High School girls’ soccer team was glad to get a rematch in Thursday night’s Class 3 District 10 championship game.
And the Falcons played like a team fueled by motivation and championship hunger.
Glendale ended a five-year district title drought by defeating the Vikings 4-0, behind two goals from sophomore Emma Miller and a trio of assists from senior captain Kate Arthur.
“These seniors, a lot of them play multiple sports, and they haven’t won a (district title) in basketball, volleyball, softball and even soccer for the last couple of years,” said Glendale coach Jeff Rogers. “So I’m really happy for them. They’ve earned it. It means we get to play again, it means we get to practice again, and that’s great this time of the year.”
The Falcons travel to Washington (20-4 overall) on Tuesday, May 23 for a Class 3 sectional game. The Bluejays defeated Union 3-1 in the District 9 finals on Wednesday, two days after Union throttled Rolla 5-1 in the semifinal round.
It’s Glendale’s first trip to the playoffs since 2012, when the MSHSAA only had three Class levels. The Falcons lost district title matches to Nixa (2013, 2014) and Rolla (2015, 2016) the past four seasons.
“I never imagined (winning districts) would happen, honestly,” said Glendale junior Alison Hawkins. “I thought it was going to be a good year, but I guess I never thought about the playoffs. I’m really happy to do it with this group of seniors. Playing with Kate (Arthur) for these three years has been amazing. She’s a great captain and I’m happy we get to play again.”
Parkview put a bit of pressure on Glendale’s back line in the opening minutes, but the Falcons slowly began to generate possession and scoring opportunities on Parkview’s end of the field.
The Falcons’ push paid off in the 24th minute, when sophomore Emma Miller outworked a pair of defenders for possession near the top of the box and delivered a right-footed shot inside the near post.
“The ball bounced off the defender and landed near me,” Miller said. “I saw the opportunity and took it.”
Rogers said Miller currently leads the team with “around 15” goals on the season.
Glendale added a back-breaking goal in the 38th minute, when the left outside mid Hawkins took a feed from Arthur and buried one home.
“The ball came in from Kate and I took one touch with my (left) foot and shot it in to the left corner,” Hawkins said.
Parkview (9-14-1 overall) never recovered, as the Falcons dominated possession and shots on goal in the second half
“It was definitely a momentum changer,” said Vikings coach Shelby Stewart of Hawkins’ goal that put Parkview down 2-0. “At halftime, I tried to tell our players, ‘You have to dig deep.’ You can’t let a goal like that happen. It changes the game.
“It didn’t shut us out, but it shut us down. When something like that happens, you give in a little bit and the game gets harder.”
Second-half goals from Miller and senior Rachel Williams sealed the championship win for Glendale (9-10-1 overall). Williams got the header on a cross into the box by sophomore Brooke Briscoe.
The Falcons extracted a bit of revenge with the 4-0 outcome, after Parkview won 1-0 in an April 18 regular season meeting.
“No excuses. Parkview beat us in that game,” Rogers said. “I’m glad we got to see Parkview again. We had them pinned in a bit in that first match, but we just weren’t able to score. I know our kids were really looking forward to this game, especially after that outcome, so we were glad to get this result.”
Despite the loss, it wasn’t all tears on the Parkview side as the Vikings’ seniors accepted the second-place district plaque. The Vikings’ program has steadily improved the past two seasons, highlighted by back-to-back district finals appearances.
With five seniors graduating but a large stable of sophomores and freshmen – including 30-goal scorer Olivia Wheeler – returning, the future looks bright for PHS.
“Our seniors started out in a program that wasn’t really in a good spot,” Stewart said. “Being able to go back-to-back years and get second place in districts was a good thing for them. That’s why they were so emotional. They’ve worked so hard.”
“They’ve been a part of the program when it wasn’t good, so seeing it kind of built up to where it’s getting and knowing it’s going to see better years is a source of pride for them.”
Glendale 4, Parkview 0
Parkview 0-0—0
Glendale 2-2—4
First half
Glendale (24’) – Emma Miller (Kate Arthur assist)
Glendale (38’) – Alison Hawkins (Arthur assist)
Second half
Glendale (59’) – Miller (Arthur assist)
Glendale (64’) – Rachel Williams (Brooke Briscoe assist)
