Barstow eliminates Saints

"They have an experienced bunch and know how to capitalize on mistakes, and they did just that," Saint Paul head coach Luther Schmidt said after his Saints soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss in the Class 1 sectional match in Kansas City last week Tuesday.

Barstow scored in the eighth minute of the first half to grab the lead.

Barstow played a corner kick into the box.

"We had some opportunities to clear it but just couldn't before they knocked it in on us," Schmidt said.

The Saints battled back to tie the score in the 17th minute, playing a long ball into the box.

"The ball got knocked around a little and Martin Kond knocked it in," Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the Saints talked it over at the half about the importance of the next goal.

"Unfortunately, the boun-ces were cruel to us," he said.

Barstow played a long ball into the box in the third minute of the second half. The ball bounced high, got loose and Barstow put the ball into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead.

"From there, they locked it up defensively in front of their goal and played a good stall game to shorten it up," Schmidt said.

Nathaniel Lutz had five saves in the loss.

The Saints finished the season 21-4 overall, setting a new school record for wins. The Saints' only losses were two at Barstow, in overtime to Kansas City Northeast, a Class 2 district championship team, and Sedalia Smith-Cotton, each by one goal.

"This was a disappointing loss, but we are still a young team with only one senior starter," Schmidt said. "So, hopefully we can use this as motivation going forward."

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