Ladue, John Burroughs Soccer, Eliminated In State Sectionals

The marvelous high school soccer seasons had by the squads from both Ladue and John Burroughs came to abrupt endings on Tuesday, as both the Rams and Bombers were defeated in their respective state sectional playoff games against Parkway Central and Trinity Catholic.

Burroughs, which was the No. 4-ranked small school team in the area, fell 2-1 to No. 10-ranked Trinity, while Ladue suffered a bitter and controversial loss to Parkway Central, which scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick it was awarded with 1 second left in the regulation.

According to stlhighschoolsports.com, Parkway was setting up for a corner kick in the final moments of regulation and brought all its players up into the Ladue box for the try.

A Colt player got a header on the ball, but the shot sailed wide, and the Ladue players walked off the field thinking they were headed to overtime.

Instead though, the game official called a penalty on a Ladue player, and demanded that 1 second be put back on the clock, as Parkway took a final penalty kick.

Parkway's Ben Mendel took the try, and buried it past Ladue goalkeeper Eric Stuber, for the lone goal of the game, and a victory for the Colts (21-6-1).

Ladue, which was going for its 10th straight win, finished its season with a 16-7-1 record.

The Burroughs-Trinity game didn't finish as dramatically as the Ladue-Parkway Central contest did, but it was still an intense battle from start-to-finish for two teams that have met in the state playoffs often.

Trinity went up 2-0, with a pair of first-half goals, then saw its lead cut to 2-1, when Burroughs' Cole Warner knocked in a loose ball, following a blistering shot by teammate Sachit Bhat with 26:24 left in the game.

The final 26 minutes featured a relentless Burroughs attack on the Trinity net, as the Bombers desperately tried to tie the score.

But Trinity's defense was up to the task, and held off several Bomber rallies to win the game and advance to Saturday's state quarterfinals.

Trinity (13-10) will play another playoff rival, Bayless High, in the Class 1 quarterfinals. Parkway Central will also play on Saturday, as it will travel to St. Dominic High in O'Fallon, for a quarterfinal match that will send the winner to the state soccer final four, which will be played in the Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs this year.

John Burroughs finished its season with a 15-6 record.