WEBB CITY, Mo. — The top-seeded Webb City Cardinals took care of business and dispatched Kansas City Ruskin 6-0 in the district quarterfinals on Saturday at Cardinal Stadium.
Webb City started out slowly against Ruskin with the Cardinals’ first goal coming with 16 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the first half on a penalty kick from senior Alex Flores.
Flores scored his second goal late in the first half and sent the Cardinals into halftime with a 2-0 advantage.
The Cardinals scored their last four goals over a 14-minute stretch of the second half with two more from Flores, including his second penalty kick, and goals from junior Josh White and sophomore Ryan White.
“We expected a tough game, and credit to Ruskin,” Webb City coach Nick Harmon said. “They were prepared, defended really well, and covered the space really well and made it tough for us. Luckily, we were able to get a couple in the first half. We made some adjustments at halftime, then got a few more in the second half. Proud of the boys.”
Webb City wore down Ruskin in the second half, and the Cardinals were able to give their entire varsity roster a chance Saturday.
“We were able to rotate a lot of our depth guys in and they performed well,” Harmon said. “We were able to keep the tempo up in the game. That’s critical looking forward to next week in the semifinal round.”
After shutting out McDonald County 1-0 on Thursday and Ruskin 6-0 on Saturday, the Cardinals accumulated nearly 180 minutes of scoreless soccer for their last two opponents.
“Connor (Black) didn’t have a whole lot of work to do in the back today, but when we needed him, he was there,” Harmon said. “The back line defended pretty well and contained the speed Ruskin had on the counterattack. Proud of the boys for the clean sheet and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Webb City improved to 11-11 overall entering Tuesday’s district semifinal match against Grandview (12-8).
Grandview defeated Bolivar 2-1 in the second quarterfinal of the day Saturday, and the Bulldogs enter the semifinals on a hot streak with wins in seven of their last eight matches.
Webb City and Grandview kick off in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
