The varsity kickers traveled to St. Louis, MO, to join schools from throughout the nation in participating in the prestigious Gateway City Classic soccer tournament. The long bus ride to St. Louis seemingly took its toll on the Crusaders as they dropped their first match on Friday evening 4-0 to Parkway Central High School of Chesterfield, MO.
The Crusaders didn’t have time to dwell on their loss the previous evening as they took to the pitch for an 11:30 match versus Senior Central High School of Cape Girardeau, MO. Senior midfielder and co-captain Josh Chavez scored on a header from a free kick by senior defender Brian Cragg to give the Crusaders a lead that they would eventually relinquish. Defense seemed to be the order of the day as neither team was able to find the back of the net a second time. The match moved into sudden death overtime where the defensive struggle continued. Finally, with three minutes left to play in the second overtime, junior forward Alex Borys sent a cross toward the enemy goal where freshman sensation Carlos Gonzalez sent a header past the Senior High keeper for the victory. The goal was Gonzalez’s fifth of the season, and the win earned the Crusaders a berth in the Group C consolation championship match later in the day.
In the Group C championship match, the Crusaders took on the Eagles of Dunlap High School of Dunlap, IL. The Eagles earned a berth in the championship match by virtue of their 4-1 victory over Columbia Hickman High School of Columbia, MO, earlier in the day. While the defense was solid throughout the match, offensive struggles remained an all too familiar refrain. Although the Sons of Edmund held the Eagles to two goals, the lone tally by freshman forward Carlos Gonzalez just wasn’t enough to carry the day for the southsiders as the Crusaders fell 2-1. The goal was the sixth of the season for the outstanding young Gonzalez.
