The Hannibal High School soccer team was in a good position going into the Missouri Class 3 state playoffs.
The Pirates had won 21 straight games, including a thrilling overtime win over longtime rival Fort Zumwalt South to win their first district title since 2013.
They had shut out all three playoff opponents, given up just one goal in their last nine games, and were 9-0 at home.
A lot of people came to Veterans Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon in hopes that Hannibal would make it to the final four for the second time.
Something else was on Ladue Horton Watkins’ mind.
The Rams were ranked No. 1 for much of the season after finishing second in the state last year. They put constant pressure on the Pirates’ offense and stopped their strong attack from the start, to win 2-0 and earn a semifinal match with Independence Van Horn on Friday at Lindenwood University in St. Charles.
It was a quick and sad end for Hannibal to the most successful season in school history.
Junior forward Bodie Rollins said, “We knew it was going to be tough going into it, but we played some really tough teams this season.” Rollins’ team finished with a 26-3 record. “Their team was big and strong, and we couldn’t score many points.” “It was not our night.”
Ladue had 19 shots compared to 7 for the guests, and 12 of those shots were on goal. It was always the winners’ turn to attack.
They controlled the flow of the ball to attack the Hannibal defense and put pressure on the defenders and senior goalie Clayton Neisen, who had only given up 14 goals and 17 shutouts all season.
It was 12 minutes and 57 seconds before the Rams scored. Forward Ahmad Shebl went high in the middle of the box and headed in Tommy Edrington’s cross from the left wing, giving the team the lead.
Neisen made five saves in the first half to keep the lead from getting worse. A teacher from Hannibal said, “I think the numbers they put into the attack, we were so worried about stopping that that it kept our guys from getting where they needed to be when we got the ball and were on attack.
To be honest, their offense was a big part of why our attack failed.” We couldn’t get anything going on offense. I don’t know if it got us out of sync or what.
In the first half, the wind in our faces made us feel a little different. Our goal kicks were getting stuck in the middle of the field, and they did a great job of taking advantage and keeping the pressure on.
Seaton Thompson, the Ladue goalie, missed Hannibal’s best chance when he tried to win a free kick from 40 yards out in the air with a little more than three minutes left in the first half.
During the next scramble, two Pirates had chances to tie the game, but a defender blocked both of them. Hill said, “That might have changed the game.”
Hannibal had yet another great chance. 90 seconds into the second half, Austin Salerno, a defender, took control and sent a through ball into the box to Rollins, who was coming in from the right side without being marked.
But Thompson got on the ground to block Rollins’ low shot that was just inside the post. “There were times in the second half when it looked like things were coming together,” Hill said. It was possible, but they did a great job of getting rid of everything.
At 19:16 of the second half, Keegan Cody made it 2-0 by putting in a loose ball in the box after the Pirates failed to clear a cross.
When Ladue had trouble moving a ball from the box seven minutes later, both Rollins (27 goals) and Maddox Tharp (19 goals) had chances to score, but neither could score from close range.
Ladue beat Westminster Christian Academy in two overtimes in the district title game to improve to 21-6 and win its ninth straight game.
East beat the Rams 2-0 in the state championship game last year. They came in second place again in 2021. Hannibal came in fourth place at its only Class 2 state finals in 2006.
“At the end of the game, I told the guys that this hurts, and it should,” Hill said. “We really thought we could have made it to the finals.” I want them to think about what they did when they get over their pain, though.
“That was a great year.” Every team but one is sad about how the year finished, but that one team is the only one that is truly sad. They made the world know about us, and they should be proud of that.