CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Glendale scored a pair of unanswered first-half goals to build a lead on the way to a 4-0 win over Carl Junction in the Class 3 quarterfinal round of the state playoffs on Saturday at Bulldog Stadium.
The Falcons (20-3) started with a goal in the 15th minute of play before scoring inside the final three minutes of the first half to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. The second half was scoreless until the Falcons added a pair of late goals inside the last 10 minutes of play to seal the win.
“I thought Glendale kind of took us out of our element a little bit,” Carl Junction coach Ed Miller said. “They forced two mistakes in the first half, which I thought we could have gotten out of with 0-0 at halftime. … We just needed to connect some passes and get some momentum (in the second half) but we just could never get that momentum this game.”
Carl Junction closes the season with a 21-6 record and graduates seniors—Kadynce Arnold, Lauren Burgess, Kaylee Cronister, Tessa Miller, Tiffany Pham, Marly Stauffer and Mykah Strausburg.
“We scored over 90 goals this year and only had 15 scored against us coming into this game,” Miller said about his team’s season. “I am very proud of their effort this year. They put in a lot of work and got so much better as the season went on. I felt like we were playing our best ball. I am proud of this group and the seniors that have been playing for four years with us to help set a foundation for our younger pieces coming back. We had a lot of juniors and sophomores get a lot of playing time this year, and I think that is going to help us get better for the future.”
“A lot of those girls played together growing up on club teams,” Miller added about his seniors. “They were a good little nucleus that came in as freshmen with the opportunity to start right away or at least get some playing time all four years. They continued to get better every year and they made everyone around them better as well.”
Avery Givens got Glendale on the board in the 15th minute when she found the back of the net on a rebound goal for a 1-0 lead.
Charlie Wistrom put the Falcons up 2-0 after scoring from 10 yards out with 2:49 left in the first half.
“We needed to come out with some energy,” Miller said about the message at halftime. “Usually, we come out on fire and are ready to go in the second half. We just couldn’t get after it in the second half and you have to credit a lot of that to Glendale’s defense and their girls.”
Glendale’s Ayla Walden looked to push the lead to three goals for Glendale with less than eight minutes to play but a diving save from Carl Junction goalie Chrissy Figueroa kept the lead at two goals.
Emily Harrison found the back of the net shortly after to push the lead to 3-0 for the Falcons. Reilly Heman added a fourth goal for Glendale with three and a half minutes to play.
Glendale moves on to battle Ursuline Academy in the Class 3 semifinals at 11 a.m. on June 3.
