It was only right that Saxony Lutheran should win the district title in the fashion that it did.
The Saxony Lutheran boys soccer team edged Affton 5-4 in yet another penalty kick shootout (the second consecutive such finish) to claim the Class 2, District 1 championship at the Bank of Missouri Soccer Complex in Perryville Nov. 3.
It was the first district title the Crusaders won since moving up to Class 2 in 2020.
“If you’re not playing to win a district title every year, then what are you doing,” Saxony Lutheran coach Chris Crawford said of competing in Class 2 as a smaller school. “Even in years where you think ‘Oh, we can’t get there’ then why aren’t you trying to get there? Regardless of class, or anything else, we are always trying to win a district championship.”
The Crusaders edged Perryville in a shootout two days before and for Crawford, he couldn’t be happier for his team and especially the upperclassman.
“I’m just so happy for the boys,” Crawford said. “These seniors have been to four straight district championship games. They won their freshman year and lost in a heartbreaker their sophomore year. Perryville comes out last year and they were just the better team last year. This year they finished the job and I guess they like making me have more gray hair because they did not do it in easy fashion.”
Although it was a familiar one.
Saxony Lutheran senior goalkeeper Aaron Zoellner once again was the deciding factor as he made two saves in a shootout that needed an extra round, one more than the customary five. He followed a successful conversion by Landon Ochs with a save to his right for the clinching stop.
Max Richey, Brayden Moore, Michael Hasz, and Jace Boland also converted kicks in the shootout. Crawford had no more new phrases to describe how good Zoellner, who made eight saves in regulation and overtime, has been for the Crusaders this year.
“He’s saved four penalties in the district tournament,” Crawford said. “He saved a penalty against Notre Dame and saved a bunch of them against Poplar Bluff. He is not just a penalty specialist. If you look at our last seven games, I think we’ve shutout four or five teams and we got another shutout tonight. We’ve given up one goal in three games in the district tournament. I can’t say enough about him.”
The Crusaders needed every one of Zoellner’s saves as Saxony could not generate any offense in the game. Saxony had three scoring chances within the first 10 minutes of the game, but after that the opportunities were scarce for either team, which is why the game ended 0-0 after regulation and two 15-minute overtime periods.
“Our defense has been getting better and better each game,” Crawford said. “Affton held us defensively as well and I thought we were going to be able to do some different things and we just weren’t able to. Our defense had to step up and it did.”
The game also had a special significance for Crawford as the win marked the 100th win for him as head coach at Saxony Lutheran between both the boys and girls programs combined.
Crawford gave most of the credit to his teams and players for the accomplishment.
“I’m honored that we’ve gotten 100 wins in our program,” Crawford said. “It’s not just about me. It’s about the kids and my other coaches. I’m just the figurehead in a sense and I can’t give those guys enough credit.”
The Crusaders (14-9) will face District 2 champion Principia (11-10), a team they’ve never beat in eight tried, in the state quarterfinals on Nov. 12. Principia defeated Collegiate School of Med-Bio Science 4-1 in its championship game.
“We’ve played Principia almost every time we get through a district,” Crawford said. “Coach (Nigel) Marples is a great coach. They have a great facility and great players. That was not necessarily who I wanted to hear we were playing, but we will have a great game plan. These guys have been taking down giants that we’ve had hanging over us and I don’t think that will be different next week.”
