Loss to St. Pius ends SHS soccer season

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Sikeston's soccer season ended on a sour note Saturday in the 1A-3A District Tournament. The Bulldogs took 21 shots on goal, but it wasn't enough as St. Pius held on for a 1-0 victory.

St. Pius had just nine shots on goal.

"It was kind of disappointing, because I thought we controlled the whole match," said Sikeston coach Derrick Long. "When you outshoot a team 21 to 9, you expect to win. We just couldn't get them to go in."

St. Pius scored the only goal of the game at the 21-minute mark, as Kevin McNutt put one in off a Brian Meyer assist. "It kind of popped out of Chris Cota's hands, and (McNutt) just tapped it in," said Long. "Other than that, (St. Pius) had no other threats to score while we had nine or 10 good chances to score. Either their keeper made a great save or we just shot it wide. I guess it just wasn't in the cards."

Cota finished with eight saves. St. Pius keeper Adam Balechle finished with 16.

Sikeston finishes the season with a record of 9-10-1, and will lose 13 players to graduation.

"It was a good season, but I wanted a little more," said Long. "When you have this many seniors, you want to make it to that district championship game and win it for them. Next year we will only have two seniors and it's going to be even more of an uphill climb. I'm not disappointed in the way the team played. They gave 100 percent all year long in practice and games, and everyone played a role on the team. It was a good year in that aspect."

The most notable seniors Sikeston will lose include Adam Garrett, Brandon DeWitt and Adam Hahs. The team will also lose all four of its defenders and the goal keeper.

"There are going to be a lot of open spots next year," said Long. "Maybe that will help us. Maybe fighting for positions will bring up our play a little bit."