Gateway Classic Leaves St. Louis

HS: Gateway event is leaving St. Louis

Article Written by Sheldon Shealer

Published: October 19, 2016

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The Gateway City Soccer Classic is now history.

Event organizer Eric Stratman confirmed that the mega-high school boys soccer showcase played at venues all around St. Louis for the past decade will not return to the Gateway City in 2017.

Citing exhaustion and frustration, Stratman is moving the event, which will be renamed, to Burlington, Iowa, for the fall of 2017.

Sixty-three teams representing 13 states competed in this year's Gateway City Classic. The tournament field included 17 teams that have been in the SIMA FAB 50 this fall, seven of them currently in the rankings, in addition to two of the Prep Top 10 teams. No other high school event -- boys or girls -- plays such a major role in assessing high school teams from around the country.

The yet-to-be-named event in Burlington, Iowa, will max out between 48 and 52 teams, and all contests will be played at the Burlington Regional Rec Plex between Sept. 28-30.

"I have been considering this (move) for the last few years, and the final straw came this year," Stratman said. "One coach saw me and said, 'Eric, you don't look good.' And that was on Friday (the first full day of competition). It's a combination of exhaustion and frustration. Changing games on late notice, finding officials -- hoping they would show up. Costs keep going up."

Stratman then said rather than dwell on the reasons to leave St. Louis, he wanted to focus why Burlington is a better option. He cited immaculate fields all in one location for teams, officials, fans and recruiters. He said a big draw to Burlington is the away-from-the-field experiences available to visiting teams, including Fun City and steamboat tours. Since Iowa is not in its high school season, Stratman does not envision having any problem finding officials, which were stretched thin in the St. Louis area due to high school and college seasons in play.

Stratman informed the 2016 Gateway participants of his plan to move the event and he has confirmation that many will follow him to Burlington. He has verbal commitments from eight teams that have been in the SIMA FAB 50 this year, and has fielded inquiries from schools as far away as North Carolina. He expects some of the St. Louis perennial private school powers will not make the trip to Burlington, so he is considering a 12-team showcase event in St. Louis between those schools and elite out-of-state opponents.

The Gateway City Soccer Classic started as the Quincy Soccer Classic in 2005 and was moved to the St. Louis suburb of Collinsville, Ill., for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In 2009, the renamed Gateway City Soccer Classic was played at venues on both sides of the Mississippi River in both Missouri and Illinois. Also, the event grew from the original 12 teams in 2005 to the mid-60s the past several years. More than 130 schools representing 21 fall-playing states have competed at Gateway. The volume of teams and varying venues were both part of the allure of the Gateway City Soccer Classic and it ended up being its downfall.

Stratman told coaches that he, "had always held out hope that a complex would be built that we could use (in the St. Louis area), but every time something gathers a little steam, it manages to fall flat and not get done. I can't even begin to tell you how many meetings I have attended and promises made only to have it not work out."

State and nationally ranked teams from Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Missouri have already verbally committed to the 2017 event in Burlington.

"I've built great relationships with the coaches, they know I run a good tournament, so I'm hoping they will still come," Stratman said. "I hope they will give (Burlington) a chance. All I ask is give it one year. If you don't like it, then so be it. But I don't think that will be the case."

SOME GATEWAY CITY SOCCER CLASSIC HISTORY

* In 2015, Christian Brothers College (Mo.), coached by Terry Michler, faced off against Pingry School (N.J.), coached by Miller Bugliari, in a meeting between the top two all-time winningest high school soccer coaches. Michler and Bugliari, despite nearly 100 years of coaching and more than 1,700 victories combined, had never met prior to that contest.

* In 2011, DeMatha Catholic (Md.) edged Jesuit (Calif.) in a shootout in a game that featured the nation's two longest undefeated streaks at the time. Since that time, Jesuit has moved to the winter soccer season and no longer competes in the fall. But that result stands as Jesuit's lone loss in three trips to Gateway.

* In 2009, St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.) won its bracket title, which vaulted them toward a perfect season and a FAB 50 national title.

* More than a dozen current or recent MLS players competed as high school players at the Gateway City Soccer Classic.

* Christian Brothers (Mo.) holds the distinction of the most wins (22) and bracket titles (four) at the Gateway event. The Cadets won the Bracket A title this year, allowing it to move to the top of both lists.

Regional Finals vs. #1 Topeka Seaman

Game 18, 27 October at Seaman (1-0 OT)

Wow. Evan Neely was GOLDEN as Devin Diggs got to the baseline with less than 3 left in OT to T it back through a great Curt Whigham dummy. 

It was a match where Sam Kimball had to make a couple of off-the-chart saves to keep the match at nil to even get to overtime. Check this out!

We did have opportunities, but we offered up pretty weak strikes. And despite many dangerous throw-ins and double-digit corner kicks we just could not find twine. 

I was impressed by how well Seaman was coached and how good their #16 and #10 were. 

BWhite gave a huge shoutout to Sam Kimball and our defense, but he named Joey Caragher the BWhite Player of the Match. My was he special tonight for 90 minutes at holding mid. 

But we were gutsy as a team, and we played so hard. To quote Aubrey Evans "That was fun"!

On to Southwest!

STATS:  

First Half:  Saints: Shots 6 (2). Corners. 5 (Gaspo, Sketers, Gonzalez, Whigham and Gabriel). 

Vikings: Shots 1 (1). Corners 0. 

Second Half and OT:

Saints:  Shots: 13 (7). Corners 7 (Wirt 4, Gabriel 2, Wherry)

2:46 OT. Nealy. (Diggs T through Whigham)

Vikings. Shots. 3 (1) Corners. 1. 

From the Topeka Captial Journal

Seaman soccer season ends with loss to Aquinas in OT

Oct 27, 2016 11:01 PM

A couple weeks ago, Seaman soccer was enjoying an undefeated season, and now, it’s over.

After 80 scoreless minutes against Aquinas on Thursday, the Vikings gave up their first postseason goal 7:14 into overtime, ending their year with a 1-0 loss in the Class 5A regional finals.

Devin Diggs crossed to Evan Neely in the middle of the box, and the sophomore midfielder fired in the golden goal to send the Saints to the state quarterfinals.

“We did what we do,” said Aquinas coach Craig Ewing. “Go to the baseline, Curt Whigham dummied the ball, which drew two defenders, and we got a nice finish right inside the top of the box.”

Seaman keeper Chase Anderson handled several shots on goal, and even more corner kicks, throughout regulation, but was unable to get his hands on Neely’s deceptive strike.

Facing perennial powerhouse Aquinas in the second round was a tough draw for the Vikings, who were unbeaten through 14 games and earned the top seed with a 12-1-3 record. Both coaches said an eighth-seeded Saints team (10-5-3) that has played in three straight title games doesn’t bode well for the rest of the 5A bracket.

“That’s why I say records don’t mean much if you don’t go further than you need to go,” said second-year Seaman coach Craig Rocastle. “That’s life. I can’t fault what they did tonight.”

The Vikings made huge strides this season with seven seniors on the roster, but were on the defensive side of the pitch more often than not Thursday. Anderson’s goalkeeping, Simone Canu’s defense and the length of senior Tanyon Schafer helped keep the Saints from scoring despite frequent set pieces.

“He’s come a long way,” Rocastle said of Anderson. “He pushed (2015 starter) Kyle King to the maximum last year, and stepped in this year, and he’s been fantastic.”

Meanwhile, Seaman had chances of its own, most notably when Alejandro Cabrera had a goal waved off by an offsides call with 26 minutes left in the second half. Conner Poteete recovered the ball after an Ethan Cowen collision, and fed it ahead to Cabrera. A brief celebration ensued before the Vikings realized the flag was raised.

To add insult to injury, Cowen, a senior captain, limped off the field before returning later in the second half.

“That’s the one time I would’ve loved for the flag to not be up on the play,” Rocastle said. “But he was offsides. I’m glad we finished it cause sometimes we don’t. It’s OK. It happens.”

Cowen had another opportunity stopped when he collided with keeper Samuel Kimball and Matt Ewert in the closing minutes of regulation. The defender was given a yellow card, and the Vikings a free kick, but the 25-yard attempt misfired.

The Saints’ attack only intensified late, and their depth played a factor, especially on the goal by Neely, who hadn’t played a minute in the second half.

“Yeah, we could’ve scored earlier, but it’s hard to score on these guys,” Ewing said. “Finally, at the end we did something right. It was kind of exciting. We had some guys with fresh legs who came off the bench, and that really helped us.”

Aquinas001-1

Seaman000-0

Goals - Aquinas: Neely. Assist - Aquinas: Diggs. Shutout - Aquinas: Kimball.

Regional Semi-Finals

Game 17: at Saint Thomas Aquinas vs Turner (3-0)

First of all, hats off to Turner. They played hard, and they ran a pretty darn good trap that effectively slowed our attack. 

We probably should have finished a few more of our opportunities, but Turner's keeper had a solid match. 

Our first goal was a nice goal that started with Kimball's kick before Curt headed it forward to an on-running Wirt. Brilliant goal. 

We did not allow much either, but #10 and #8 did impress. Both had the ability to score anytime the ball reached the final third. 

BWhite named Sam Sketers and Sam Kimball the BWhite Players of the game. Turner sent two quality forwards at us all night, but neither could break Sam down and, not only, did Kimball coordinate well with his defense, but he also showed some nifty footwork in the box. His distribution out on that first goal of the night is something we just don't see too often from a high school keeper. 

Now defensively we were pretty sharp all night, allowing 3 total shots for the match and only one on goal.

Next up #1 seed Topeka Seamen. 

Stats: 

Saint Thomas Aquinas: Shots: 12 (5). Corners: 4 (Wherry, Wirt, Neely, & Whigham)

22:20 Wirt: (Kimball kicks it 50 yards for a Whigham head-flick to an on-running Wirt)

Golden Bears: Shots: 2 (0) Corners: 0

Second Half:

Saints: Shots: 11 (7) Corners: 4 (Wirt 2, Gabriel 2)

12:07 Evans (Curt and Danny run 2-man)

5:59 Davidson (Diggs pushes it forward)

Golden Bears: Shots: 1 (1) Corners: 0

Senior Night

Game 16: At Saint Thomas Aquinas on Senior Night vs. LS North (3-0)

First of all Lisa Stoecklein and her group really made this evening nice, from the stadium decorations to the video to the treats in the Commons. Well done. The March

And the boys did their part as well, earning a nice 3-0 victory.

Jack Marshall was in uniform tonight and in the starting lineup that also included Colin Kelly at forward. (He did finish up in goal). 

BWhite named a non-senior, who was only eligible for the first half, the BWhite Player of the Game. He had both assists on the first two goals, and those goals got us going as the game was still 0-0 with less than ten left in the first half. 

We did get goals from 2 seniors, but what was even more impressive was the team earning the shutout although Sam Kimball had to have quite a hold in the second half when North hit a drive at him with a few follows as well. He held tight. 

What a great senior class: Gaspo, Evans, Sketers, Wherry, Gonzalez, Geiss, Marshall, Kelly, Kimball, Ewert, and Wherry)Thanks for all the time, the commitment, and the success. Let's finish this off!

Next up: Halloween Party and then Post Season.

Stats:

First Half:  Saints Shots: 6 (3) Corners: 3 (Wirt, Diggs, Arias)

8:23 Gaspo (Evans lifts the direct with Arias chipping back on)

4:18 Wirt (Arias turns to hit the long through ball)

Mustangs: Shots: 4 (3). Corners. 0

Second Half: Saints Shots: 8 (5) Corners: 6 (Wirt 2, Neely, Geiss, Diggs, Gabriel)

9:59 Gabriel (Joey finds Martinek who t's it)

Mustangs: Shots: 4 (3). Corners: 0

Best of Midwest Showcase

Game 15 vs. Olathe East at CBAC in Best of the Midwest (2-3)

It was fantastic being the 810 Varsity's showcase game in the Best of the Midwest. And it was also neat finally playing Olathe East again after so many years. Check out the STA Crowd.

We gave all that came to the game tonight a very entertaining match that basically ended with only six seconds left 3-2. 

We continue to give up goals that you would think were almost impossible to give up. We countered that by creating a couple of great goals, the second that evened the score early in the second half.

Overall, we were pleased with how hard and how well we played.  So many guys stood out with very, very good games against unbeaten Olathe East. Aubrey Evans, Sam Sketers, and Evan Neely were off the charts. Ricardo was quite good. BWhite, however, named senior center midfielder, Danny Gabriel, BWhite Player of the Match. 

He scored the first goal, beautifully threaded the assist to tie the score, just missed another, and we all thought stood out as the best player on the pitch tonight. 

Statistically we won the second half, and they won the first. The match probably should have gone to OT, but it did not. We had agreed only to play 5 minute OT's, so who knows? The boys were really playing well. 

What we need to take away from this match is quite a bit: 1) what a privilege to get to play in the event against Olathe East 2) the need to do a much better job clearing that first ball into the box on kicks and then being first to the second ball 3) how not to commit so many dumb fouls at inappropriate times and inappropriate positions on the field 4) how hard we played and 5) how well we play when we string 3-4 passes together and then go. 6) how our schedule will pay off during postseason. 

We do a senior night Tuesday with the opportunity to honor some very special guys. And after that, we head to the most important part of the season: post season where the gauntlet we have been through will pay massive dividends. We are almost around that Monopoly board, GO!

STATS:

First Half: Shots:  1 (1) Corners: 1 (Wirt)

17:10 Gabriel (Caragher finds him through Gaspo)

Hawks: Shots: 9 (6) Corners: 1

38:09 Stone (Long deadball bounces in the box and over keeper's head)

17:35 Stone (3rd touch shot)

Second Half: 

Saints:  Shots: 7 (4)  Corners: 2 (Diggs, Caragher)

39:37 Gonzalez (Gabriel threads a through ball)

Hawks: Shots:  4 (1) Corners: 1

:06 Chapman (clear gets to the ground in the box)

Game 14: BV West

13 October at STA vs. BV West (1-2)

We knew it would be tough tonight, coming off the Rockhurst win, taking on 

 a good BV West team. And it was. The Jags played a very direct game that did get them into the front third quite a bit. They did not have a lot of shots, but they made a couple of them count. On both goals we allowed too much space, allowing them to get pretty good shots off. We just have to do a better job of taking away that central space as we stab way too much. 

But losing the match might not have been our worst loss of the game as we may very well have lost Sam Kimball for the season and Whigham for awhile. Sam got flatten on a ball into the scrum, and his knee did not look great at the end of the match. Sam has been having such a great year in goal that this injury would be would be a tough one for us.

Curt Whigham broke his nose so he will be out Saturday, and he will have to finish the season in a mask. This game just did not go as we had hoped.

We did generate some opportunities, but it is not easy scoring goals.  We just missed on a couple more set pieces and off a couple of nice baseline attacks. I did like our effort. 

BWhite named Aubrey Evans as the BWhite Player of the Match. He had an excellent game at centerback.

And as we know things will not get any easier as we have Olathe East in two days, Lee Summit North in 5 days. And then the final season. 

STATS:

Saints: Shots: 5 (3) Corners: 1 (Diggs)

31:44 Sketers (Neely lofts the long direct kick)

Jags: Shots: 7 (4) Corners: 2

23:09 Sherwood (corner kick never really ends as they keep pushing it forward before the shot to the back post)


Second Half: Saints: Shots: 6 (3) Corners: 3 (Wirt 2, Wherry)

Jags: Shots: 3 (3) Corners: 1

3:43 Spraetz (dribbles into the center of the 18 without us pressuring)

Rockhurst at Aquinas

Game 13: Rockhurst at Aquinas (3-1)

Newspaper Article

Wow. For the first time in 25 years we hosted the Rock. And despite it being a Tuesday night during Kairos, Volleyball Senior Night, Yada Yada, they came. Over 2, 000 came. And what a night it was for the Saints. 

After falling for the past two years, we hung a W tonight. Rock arrived 17-2, #7 in the country, just 10 days removed from being ranked #1 in the country. But we were good tonight against the best team we have seen all year, and we have seen some good teams. 

We showed with energy, closing space as soon as it opened as our secondary defenders waited. Probably the greatest compliment to the team came from a BWhite as he named the entire squad BWhire Player of the Game. Team!

 

And yes there was a Schermoly moment: Matt Ewert had just scored just an amazing goal on a corner to put us up 1-0 when he took off running towards our sideline to hop into BWhite's arms. I loved that!

I have to give B a huge shoutout for bringing Patrick White back for last night's team dinner. He returned the clap to STA soccer, and he transferred the historical importance of these Rockhurst matches. We showed up tonight and as Danny Gabriel mentioned "to represent those that have come before and those that will come after this squad." That is tradition, program. 

Matt Ewert's recent insertion into the starting lineup continues to pay big dividends. (Check out his opening goal off the corner). He and Aubrey were splendid in the center of the back as well! 

Once again I want to credit Coach Hammons with our rededication to set pieces and the daily extra sessions to improve us in that area. We cashed two nice ones tonight with Gabriel just missing another.

Hopefully, Mrs. Gress got some great crowd shots, and cheerleader flips as I know Titus got the full dance routine. This match was a school-wide celebration with a crowd full of so many alumni families that I could not get an accurate count. 

As Curt Whigham said before the match "boys, this is one you won't ever forget."

Hey, but we have "miles to go before we sleep": BV West, Olathe East and then LS North. But will pause just for a moment after this one.

STATS: 

First Half: Saints: Shots: 4 (3) Corners: 2 (Wirt 2)

19:53 Ewert (Joey Caragher bends it left for the diving header into the Schermoly run)

Rockhurst: Shots: 5 (1) Corners: 3

3:48 Smith (controversial goal as we pull off the post leaving Smith perhaps offsides, but he heads it in on the second-touch corner)

Second Half: 

Saints: Shots: 5 (4) Corners: 2 (Sketers, Geiss)

30:11 Gasparovich (Just-inserted-in-lineup Evan Neely hit the long diagonal switch that Wirt chests down in front of Gasp who fights off the defender before lacing it near post) 

28:21 Geiss (Just-inserted-in-lineup Cole Geiss runs backpost on the beautiful Wherry free kick)

Rockhurst: Shots: 4 (3) Corners: 3

EKL vs. Blue Valley

Game 12: vs. Blue Valley at BV West (2-0)

In our first game back from St. Louis we were pretty solid.  Yes, we could have scored more, but more importantly, we created chances and allowed very few, if any.

In his debut match at starting centerback, Matt Ewert showed well. BWhite named him the BWhite Player of the Match, for one. We cashed a corner with his running of the slot. In fact, he won 4 balls in that spot, just missing on another one. He also paired well with Aubrey in the back. Blue Valley did not generate much in the center of the field as Matt cleared so much with his head. 

B had to give a big shoutout for Landon Wirt as well. Not only did he get the game-winning goal, but he also generated six corner kicks. (I don't know if that is a Saint record, but it should be.) 

The Tigers' keeper made a great save on a Parker Stoecklein shot from the top of the box and a couple of difficult saves on a couple of other shots, so we were generating some offense.

Lots of kids played and played well, and we kept a clean sheet. This defense is what we will need in our last four matches down murders' row: we start Tuesday with Rockhurst.

STATS:

First Half: Saints: Shots: 10 (7) Corners: 5 (Wirt 5)

3:17 Wirt (Danny finds Devin wide for him to go baseline before lofting the ball to the back post for the head-in)

Tigers: Shots: 0 (0)

Second Half: Saints: Shots: 12 (6) Corners: 5 (Wirt, Diggs, Whigham, Stoecklein, Caragher)

15:13 Ewert (Gabriel bends the right-footed corner in)

Tigers: Shots 2 (0)

Gateway, Day 3

at Chaminade vs. Columbia Rock Bridge (2-3)

Well, the good news is we got to play today, so we had a chance to get the ugly taste out of our mouth from yesterday's debacle. 

Because so many of the final day's matches were paring up teams that had already played each other this season, we did not play who we were supposed to play, Cherry Creek out of Colorado. We played Rock Bridge who should have been in the championship match playing Chaminade who they had beaten earlier this season.  So we took them on.

As the saying goes "if we didn't have bad luck we would not have any luck at all."  But as BWhite mentioned at halftime when we were staring at a 2-0 deficit, we have a lot to do with causing our own bad luck.

We made every soccer adage real today. 1) Goals are scored in the first five minutes and the last five minutes of halves. We surrendered all three that way. 2-0 is the most dangerous score in soccer. We roared back to tie it midway through the second half at 2.  

And then in some mystifying fashion, we fouled with 23 seconds left. And from 35 yards the Rock Bridge number 10, chipped a ball somehow over Sam's head for the winning goal.

BWhite named Danny Gabriel the BWhite Player of the Match, with a shoutout to Aubrey Evans.  Both had almost flawless matches, and their huge efforts inspired all around them.  But as a whole, our guys played well today. Just a gutsy comeback that only fell short by a few seconds. 

STATS:

First Half: Saints  

Shots: 8 (3) Corners: 5 (Whigham, Gonzalez, Sketers, Neely, Wherry)

Rock Bridge: Shots: 5 (3) Corners: 0

3:52 Koetting (19 hit a cross into the 18 box that Koetting strokes home)

0:38 Stanowski (Muhammand hits a long ball from midfield that bounces at the 18 before Stanowski knocks it in).
Second Half:

Saints:  Shots: 7 (3) Corners: 4 (Caragher 2, Sketers, Stoecklein)

32:31 Stoecklein (Joey hits the long free kick that Rock Bridge intially clears but first Wherry and then Evans out it back on for a Gaspo D-cross for the headball)

18:13 Whigham (Diggs boxes it)

Rock Bridge: Shots: 2 (1) Corners: 1

0:23 Klein (direct kick chipped in from 35)