We have arrived: The State Finals 2024

Game 20: (19-1-0)
25 May vs. BV Southwest at Spring Hill for the whole ball of wax (5-0)


We reached the final game of the season with a strong performance in the Semifinals against a quality Bishop Carroll team, earning the right for the presumptive match-up from DAY 1 of the season, Blue Valley Southwest.

The Saints had an opportunity to write some more history today. We had allowed 6 goals all year; that's .330 goals against for Maggie Payne, and even less for the team. Southwest will need to score as they did yesterday (7 goals) to drastically change those numbers. The girls had an opportunity to win their 20th state title—nobody has done that in soccer, or in the school for that matter. They are also on a streak that could reach that special number—4. The Saints won the first four State Titles in Girls' Soccer history, and then in 2010 went on a seven-year run. 

We went with the line-up we have been using for the last part of the season. It has worked pretty well:


KAMMERER (sometimes O'Keefe) HANSEN, MAHER, ZINKUS, RYLANCE (DiCarlo during the Rylance Injury) & PAYNE. Those names will live on from this momentous season, becoming part of Saint Thomas Aquinas lore: 15 shutouts in 20 matches, 6 goals surrendered all year, .313 Goals Against with Payne in, and .296 Goals Against Overall.

. . . and yes all players play defense. In fact, today we saw two enormous recovery runs by Holton and O'Keefe that prove just that. The whole team wanted to keep Southwest off the board. And Maggie did not just read a book in the net; she had action all night. She made two really nice saves where she punched the balls over the top (Save 1 and Save 2).

Post Season went like this: 11-0, 2-0, 8-0, 3-0, 5-0—that's 29-0!

I have not witnessed many teams play better in a state final than the girls did today. They dismantled an excellent Timberwolves team 5-0. That's remarkable. State final games don't usually go like that.

We cashed a corner five minutes into the match, adding a free-kick goal 5 minutes later. So it was 2-0 after only 10 minutes.

And with a 3rd deadball goal, we headed to halftime with a 3-0 lead. (And my, Maura Maher had to have hit that from 40!)

Marn was the Marnster for most of this match, scoring monster goals, twice, and Maggie O'Keefe continued her second-half-of-the-season scoring run, adding two goals and an assist to move herself into third overall in scoring.



We in the stands loved seeing all the seniors on the field for the last four minutes. Maggie O'Keefe, Maggie Payne, Andie Rylance, Jane Hansen, Cara Holton, and Julia Flynn were all on the field as the final whistle sounded into a sort-of dogpile.

SENIOR CLASS


Saints Nation will celebrate this one tonight, and beyond.

Well done girls.

These guys probably had something to do with this as well. Is Coach Brown 2 for 2?

STATS:

Saints:

First Half: Shots: 8 (6) Corners: 3 (Marn, Miller, Hesser)

34:24 O'Keefe (Cabantac bends the right-footed corner in)

30:30 Marn (30-yard free kick)

5:02 Maher (40-yard shot off the Zinkus throw-in)

Timbers: Shots: 5 (3) Corners: 0

Second Half:

Saints: Shots: 13 (7) Corners: 3 (O'Keefe, DiCola, Miller)

31:26 Marn (Maggie reverses the field with the diagonal through ball)

15:28 O'Keefe (O'Keefe posts up, lays it off to DiCola who drives towards the baseline then t's it back for a Maggie chest finish)

Timbers: Shots: 11 (6) Corners: 2

WOM: TEAM DEFENSE




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