Saxony soccer gets three on All-State team

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Despite not getting past the district tournament, that did not exclude the Saxony Lutheran boys soccer team from earning some of the top honors in Class 2.
A trio of Crusaders earned All-State honors when they were released.
Paul Kaufmann earned a spot on the first team, while Jace Boland made it to the second team.
Max Richey earned a spot as an honorable mention.
“The three of them made and are well deserving,” Saxony boys soccer coach Chris Crawford said. “I feel like I had 17 All-State players, but realistically I have to bring that level down a bit.”
Along with being on the first team Kaufmann was named the Co-Defensive Player of the Year with Ethan Edwards of Excelsior Springs.
“He’s probably the best one-on-one defender in the state of Missouri, regardless of class,” Crawford said. “He’s strong on the ball and tactically super smart and his soccer IQ is very high. We had to use him as a center defensive midfielder, but he also played centerback. When he was back there, very few balls were getting through our back line if anything.

Boland, who made the team as a forward, and Crawford was glad to see him make the All-State team after failing to be voted onto the all-district team last season.
“He was probably the biggest snub,” Crawford said of Boland. “I thought that was embarrassing not for him, but that the other coaches didn’t realize how good he actually was for us. He used that snub as motivation and came in focused and had a different mentality.”
Crawford felt like Richey had an outside chance at making the second team with Boland, but the depth of teams and players in Class 2 kept him as a honorable mention.
“Max was Mr. Do-It-All for us at times,” Crawford said. “We had to push him up due to some injuries and he ended up scoring quite a few goals for us.”
Saxony Lutheran finished the year with a modest 13-9 this year aafter falling to Perryville in the Class 2 district championship game, but Crawford felt like the team’s tough schedule which includes a final four team in every class was the reason behind the recognitions.
All three players will return next season for their senior seasons in 2022.
““I sure hope that they come back stronger and better next year,” Crawford said. “I have high hopes for next year’s team.”