CREVE COEUR — The inaugural St. ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ· High School Champions League final lived up to and exceeded expectations Saturday night before a large crowd at Creve Coeur Park Soccer Complex.
In a clash of the Post-Dispatch's top-ranked large school squads, No. 2 St. Dominic scored early and late to knock off No. 1 De Smet 2-0 for the title. For their efforts, the Crusaders (17-2-1) were awarded the first Terry Michler Championship Cup.
De Smet fell to 14-4-1.
"Both teams played tremendously and what a crowd,'' St. Dominic coach Greg Koeller said. "This brought back memories of all those great games at Koch Park. I'm proud of the boys and the effort. This is a great event with an electric atmosphere and I think it's only going to get better from here."
The Crusaders grabbed the lead less than 8 minutes into the contest. Defender Nick Martinez came up with a steal in the midfield and played the ball forward, where Johnny Petruso flicked a header to send Conor Meyers in alone.
"I saw an opportunity to run into space and saw the De Smet keeper coming out, so I hit it and then I went to the ground,'' Meyers said of his 13th goal this season. "When I got up, I saw it in the back of the net, so I started to celebrate. It's awesome."
The Crusaders had another stellar chance in the half's final seconds when Lucas Sottile worked a give-and-go with Charlie Lafata. On Sottile's blast, De Smet goalkeeper Jackson Keyes came up with a diving stop.
In the second half, De Smet turned up the pressure offensively, coming at St. Dominic in waves. But the Crusaders hung tough.
The Spartans nearly tied it with about 26 minutes to play. After receiving a pass from Jack Saladin, De Smet's Landon Weber ripped a shot that deflected off the bottom of the crossbar.
With about 10 minutes to play, the Spartans were dangerous on a series of corner kicks. After the third one, however, St. Dominic nearly scored on the counter. But Keyes came up with the stop against Petruso and Chase Meyer's attempt to follow up on the rebound was blocked by De Smet defender Evan Wehmueller.
St. Dominic got an insurance tally with just 1.6 seconds to play as Petruso set up Gavin Kleeschulte for the 2-0 final.
The shutout by sophomore Luke Pavia was his 10th of the season.
"It was a battle, working hard to keep it out of our net," Meyers said. "But we got the job done."
St. Dominic midfielder Chase Morgan earned the game's MVP honor for his tireless work in the center of the field.
"A little bit of a surprise, but it's a great honor,'' he said. "We came in knowing it would be a battle against another great team. After taking the lead, it really came down to us being organized and composed. De Smet came at us with everything they had, so the key for us was to keep our cool."
Koeller added: "As that second half progressed, we had to make a few adjustments defensively because De Smet was coming hard. But it was just a great effort from the boys."
De Smet's players were disappointed, but also finished the night with a lot of positives.
"It was just a good old-fashioned soccer game. We gave the fans what they wanted and it was very much like the last time we played," Spartans coach Josh Klein said, referring to De Smet's 1-0 home win over the Crusaders on Sept. 30.
"They got the goals tonight, but I was really proud of the way our guys played, especially after halftime. That's soccer. Tonight was Dominic's night — they're an outstanding team — but we'll look to use it as motivation. Who knows, maybe we'll see them again."
If that happens, it'd be in the Class 4 title game on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Soccer Park in Fenton. But each team will face major challenges between now and then.
"Our guys really seem to thrive on challenges like that,'' Klein said.
Klein added: "As I told my guys, they have nothing to be disappointed about. We just didn't get the ball to fall our way tonight. Defense played great, I was pleased with how we moved the ball and we worked so darned hard. This will make us stronger. I promise."
St. ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ· High School Champions League, final: St. Dominic 2, De Smet 0
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St. Dominic's Conor Meyers (22) raises the High School Champions League championship trophy surrounded by teammates, including Johnny Petruso (left) on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at Creve Coeur Park Soccer Complex in Creve Coeur, Mo. Paul Kopsky | Special to