November 7, 2020
By Fred Liggett
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Wednesday night saw the St. Michael’s Guardians go to overtime to try to win a district title, at the very same time Lee’s Summit Tigers and LS West Titans were doing the same thing.
On Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. the Guardians took the field at William Chrisman High School to play the Van Horn Falcons for the right to advance in Class 3 state soccer championships. The District 14 title game would go to overtime with nothing decided as the game remained scoreless after 80 minutes. The two teams would continue to battle through a 15 minute overtime period with nothing decided. In the second overtime with 11:22 left to play Van Horn’s Edison Rios took a pass from his brother and scored the game winning goal. The 1-0 loss after 98 minutes of play meant the end of the 2020 season for St. Michael’s.
Following the title game Guardians head coach Rob Putthoff said his team “had lots of opportunities, just couldn’t find the back of the net.” When looking back at the 2020 season Putthoff will think of “how odd the season was with quarantines and COVID protocols.” Putthoff admits this year’s team “Was a special team, my original group from 2017.” To prepare for a tough post season games Putthoff scheduled his team “To play a lot of big schools, were prepared, will remember this team forever.”
Just an hour at 7 p.m. the Lee’s Summit Tigers and LS West Titans took the field at Ray-Pec High school to play for the Class 4, District 13 title. The entire 40 minute first half would go by without a single goal. The first goal of the match came in the 61st minute as the Titans took a 1-0 lead. The Tigers would come back to tie it at 1 with a goal with 11:21 left in the second half. The two teams would continue their battle into an overtime session where the Titans scored to win it 2-1.
The loss for the Tigers meant the end of a 2020 season that saw them finish up at 14-4. For the Titans, now 15-5, they move on to play a sectional round game on Saturday against Rockhurst. The Titans who earlier this season claimed the Suburban Big Eight Conference championship now add the Class 4, District 13 title as they continue on their journey to a possible State Championship.
