​Eagles get No. 2 seed for districts following loss to Jaquars

by Michael Smith             


The Grain Valley girls soccer team had a golden opportunity.

The Eagles faced off against Blue Springs South in a non-conference matchup Thursday at home and the match had major playoff implications.

Because both teams will be Class 4 District 6 Tournament, and had the two best in the district, it was likely that the winner would be the No. 1 seed, especially since head-to-head records are typically a major factor in where teams seeded.

Grain Valley just missed out on that opportunity.

The contest came down to a shootout and the Jaguars won it 4-2 as the Eagles fell 1-0 at Moody Murry Memorial Field.

Because of the loss, South nabbed the No. 1 seed in the district and Grain Valley is No. 2. The Eagles will face off against Fort Osage in the first round of districts at 6 p.m. May 3 at the Blue Springs soccer field across the street from the district’s Freshman Center.

South Seniors Gwen Maggard, Mary Hoffman and Avery Ringgenberg along with sophomore Haley Cramer made their penalty kicks against backup goalkeeper Emma Thiessen. For Grain Valley, Thiessen and junior Ally Gilbert made their PKs but South goalkeeper Siman Loethen came up with a diving stop on an attempt from junior Mia Cole and an attempt from Sophia Giuliano sailed over the net to give the Jaguars the win.

South controlled possession about 60 percent of the time, but the Eagles had their fair share of chances to score.

Loethen came up with five saves with her biggest one coming on a shot from Cole late in the second half. Cole rocketed a shot from 29 feet out that appeared to be headed inside the right post but the Jaguar keeper made a diving stop to keep the game scoreless. Thiessen also had an open shot from the left side of the penalty box after a give-and-go with Gilbert, but Loethen stopped her shot.

South had about a 60-40 advantage on time of possession, but played excellent defense whenever Grain Valley got the ball into the final third. The Jaguars (10-4-1) man-marked Thiessen, who played forward for most of the game. The physicality on South’s tackles on Thiessen led to turnovers on a few occasions.

“In the final third, we were a little bit sloppier than I wanted to be. We were really close to get some really good opportunities,” Lewis said. “Mia had a great shot. Emma had a couple opportunities where she was one more touch to the left or one pass that was a little bit too far to the right. It’s just about polishing those things up. But I am proud of our effort. We pushed South to the brink.”

The Eagles also were missing sophomore forward Radleigh Childers, who was out with a knee injury. She is a big part of their offense and could have helped her team put some chances away.

“I wanted to help Radleigh out as a precaution because she tweaked her knee. We want her ready for the playoffs,” Lewis said. “We didn’t have a lot of speed going forward but we found ways to connect on passes. I hoping we get an opportunity to play South again.”