2025 Boys Postseason #7 - Nov. 19

November 19, 2025 Quarter Recap (Blog #7)

Another fascinating Saturday of playoff soccer last weekend in Missouri - the postseason always adds drama, intrigue, magic and heartbreak - and Saturday provided it all across 16 quarterfinals.

We will start in C3 where two of the games provided two of the wildest endings of the year and a third was settled by a second half goal. In Cape Girardeau, #22 Notre Dame fell behind #5 Rockwood Summit 2-0 before rallying in the second half to tie 2-2 on a 45-yard perfectly placed free kick. Summit forged ahead late and looked like it would advance without further issue, but ND converted a penalty late to force OT. Summit would eventually prevail on a miscommunication in the ND box after a free kick pinged around and wasn’t cleared. A heartbreaking ending for ND and new life for a Summit squad who was heavily favored (+1.06). The C3 tournament’s Cinderella, #7 Priory, seemed to be on its way to another shocker when it led #4 Ft. Zumwalt East 2-0 at half, but the Lions rallied with two early 2nd half goals to send the game into OT. The Lions got the game-winner in OT and advanced to their first first Final Four. #3 Van Horn also survived a tough battle from an underdog challenger. #12 St. Michael put up a stout showing after an earlier 5-0 loss to VH, but a 53rd minute breakaway goal proved to be the difference for Van Horn, who advance to their fourth semi since 2018. #10 Summit Christian had no problem at home with #21 Carl Junction, winning 5-0 and advancing to their first semi as a C3 squad. Those wins set up a third contest between VH and SCA with VH winning the first two, 2-1.

C2 didn’t see any OT games, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t drama. #1 Springfield Catholic got past a game #5 Marshall squad 3-1. The Irish took advantage of a solid breeze and a mishit GK to grab an early 1-0 lead on a breakaway. That’s when things got interesting as the Irish were forced to play a man down for nearly 50 minutes after a red card. Marshall took advantage of a backline miscommunication five minutes into the half to level at 1, but Catholic regrouped and took advantage of a penalty and another breakaway to survive. #16 Harrisonville awaits Catholic after the Wildcats edged #24 Maryville 3-2. The Wildcats will have a huge challenge ahead with the 28-1 Irish. The match between #18 Principia and #11 Father Tolton looked like a solid one on paper and, eventually, it was. However, Principia bolted out to a 5-1 halftime lead and looked to be on cruise control, but the Trailblazers fought back to within 5-4, making for an interesting ending. Principia will take on #13 Perryville in the semis. Perryville ended #8 Bayless’ solid postseason run 1-0 on a 77th minute goal from a freshman. Bayless had eliminated #2 Clayton and #3 Affton, but won’t get a shot at #1 Catholic as Perryville once again proved to be a difficult place to play in the postseason.

The C4 semis will feature a mix of the old guard with some fresh faces. #1 Rockhurst rolled on with a 3-0 win over #14 Glendale. The Hawklets are undefeated (22-0-1) and looking for their fourth title in five years this weekend. It should be noted that the Glendale loss came after the Falcons topped Nixa 2-1 in the district final Nov. 10. That win was Head Coach Jeff Rogers’ 1,126th (combined), passing former Oakville coach Dave Robben as MO’s overall winningest coach. #29 Park Hill South scored with 8 seconds left in the second OT to stun #21 Blue Springs South 2-1, setting up a semi rematch of the 2023 final that Rockhurst won on a late goal, 2-1. The defending champions are also back in the Final Four. A year after a magical run to the C4 title, #2 SLUH finally got the win over #24 Vianney this year in the game that mattered most, 3-0. The teams had tied 0-0 in the first match and the Griffins had beat the Jr. Bills 3-2 to close the regular season, but this one was all SLUH. #9 Ft. Zumwalt West’s run continued in the unlikeliest of ways - an OT goal scored from its GK. The Jaguars hit a wind-aided midfield bomb  in the first OT, extending their win streak to 17 after rallying from an early deficit against #11 Francis Howell. The 2-1 win gives the Zumwalt district two schools in this year’s semis.

C1 chaos continued as well Saturday. #1 Veritas Christian had no problem in its 4-0 win over #26 Fatima, but #3 Metro needed 2OT to survive last year’s champ Valley Park, 1-0. Valley Park was only in the quarters after advancing from D1 when #2 St. Mary’s had to forfeit its 4-0 championship win due to using ineligible players from an end of the game fight in their semifinal win over Gateway. Metro and Veritas hook up in the semis Friday. #6 Lone Jack scored twice in the opening five minutes against #8 Faith Christian Academy, but FCA rallied to knot it at 2 late in the second half. LJ got the game winner with just under seven minutes left to advance and will take on #16 Laquey, who ousted upstart #27 Stover 1-0 behind a first half goal and a solid defense.

Tomorrow…a Final Four preview.