The St. Louis area senior soccer players had an opportunity to showcase their talents one final time this past Friday evening as the Missouri Athletic Club featured them in their 38th annual Soccer All-Star Game presented by Mungenast St. Louis Acura and Mungenast Alton Toyota. The games were played at the Worldwide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo.
Both games were extremely competitive as the South girls’ team took a 2-0 lead after the first 40 minutes only to see the North score a pair of goals in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw in their match. In the boy’s game, the South squad scored four times in the second half to erase a one-goal deficit to defeat the North 7-4.
In the girls’ contest, the South squad raced out to an early advantage as Rylee Howard from Lafayette opened the scoring in the 14th minute as she ripped a shot from 10 yards out into the lower left side of the goal to give the South a 1-0 lead. The Wisconsin commit scored her second goal in the 29th minute as she took a pass from Ellie Paloucek of Webster Groves and ripped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box into the right side of the goal to make the score 2-0. The North team had a great opportunity to score in the 17th minute as Macie Begley of St. Dominic hit a free-kick from 25-yards out that hit the crossbar and the rebound was stopped by Gabriella Becker of Lindbergh to keep the shutout alive.
Photo Credit – Sophia Scheller
The North squad cut the lead in half in the 66th minute as Begley, who will be attending SIU – Edwardsville scored from 19 yards out into the lower-left corner of the goal on a shot that tipped off the goalkeeper’s hands to make the score 2-1. Emma Long from Orchard Farm evened the match in the 73rd minute as the SIU – Edwardsville commit ripped a shot from 20 yards out into the left side of the goal to put the score at 2-2. Sarah Bozeman from Fort Zumwalt South made three outstanding saves in the second half to aid the North in battling back to earn the draw in the contest.
Howard earned the Mary McDermott MVP award after scoring both the South goals while Long was honored with the Mary McDermott MVP award for the North team as she scored the equalizing goal for the North. Bozeman was honored with the Sam Copple Goalkeeper of the Year award after leading the Bulldogs to their second consecutive Class 3 state title. Kiley Colburn from Timberland was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the MAC due to her achievements both on the field and in the classroom as she will be attending the University of Missouri in the fall.
The boys’ all-star contest started with a bang as Luca Bartoni from CBC took a pass from Drew Harper of St. Dominic and placed a perfect shot from seven yards out into the right side of the goal to give the North an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute. Bartoni will be attending Maryville University while Harper will be heading to Lindenwood in the fall. The South drew even with the North as Will Lichenburg from Kirkwood scored off a pass from Nico Catarinicchia of Mehlville from 10 yards out into the right side of the goal to make the score 1-1. Just 22 seconds later, Bartoni put the North back on top as he collected a pass from Ryan Harvatin of Fort Zumwalt South and found the left side of the net from 11 yards out to give the North a 2-1 advantage.
The North extend the lead to 3-1 in the 27th minute as Nick Taylor from Howell took a corner from Harper and found the right side of the goal from five yards out to extend the lead. Just a minute later, Edvin Mahmutoic from Affton cut the advantage with a goal off a deflection from eight yards out to make the score 3-2. The South then drew even in the 33rd minute as Kaden Karr from Lafayette scored off a breakaway from 11 yards out to make the score 3-3. Nate Grewe of St. Dominic put the North back on top with a goal off a through ball from Nolan Waites of Lutheran St. Charles from seven yards out to help the North regain the lead at 4-3.
The South once again evened the match early in the second half as Anis Smajlovic from Mehlville connected with Steve Saladin of SLUH on a perfect give and go in the 44th minute to make the score 4-4. Saladin and Smajlovic connected again in the 53rd minute as Saladin scored from 15 yards out on the left wing to give the South their first lead of the night at 5-4. Mahmutovic extended the South lead in the 69th minute with a header on the back post from five yards out off a centering pass from Jackson Adamec of Vianney to push the lead to 6-4. Mahmutovic scored his third goal of the night in the 80th minute off a breakaway with a shot that found the lower right corner of the goal from the top of the box to put the South ahead 7-4.
Mahmutovic earned the Mary McDermott MVP award for the South with his hat trick while Bartoni was named the McDermott MVP for the North with his two first-half goals. Luke Dillion from Fort Zumwalt South was named the Sam Copple Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the Bulldogs this past fall. Head boys’ soccer coach Chris Kenney from Marquette was named the recipient of the Steve Krause Service Award while Anthony Yan from Rockwood Summit was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the MAC due to his work on the pitch and in the classroom.
Jim Powers has been covering prep sports in the St. Louis area for 15+ years and a part of the Missouri State High School Activities Association Championship Broadcasts for the past 11 years. Powers is also a part of the Fox 2 Verlo Mattress Prep Zone Friday nights at 10:10 during the football and basketball seasons. If you have a prep sports story, please contact Jim at japowers2421@yahoo.com. Follow Jim at @hssportscaravan
