2026 Boys Postseason #5 (11-5)
by Admin on 11/05/26
Boys Blog #5
One down, 31 to go!
Congratulations to MO’s first 2026 District champion and state qualifier, the Helias Crusaders who slipped past a gutty Bolivar squad 2-0 in the C2D6 final. Helias led 1-0 at half and added a late goal to improve to 21-2. The Crusaders will host the winner of Southern Boone/Moberly in the Quarterfinals.
The other 20 matches on the night didn’t produce any champions, but two top teams with title hopes nearly didn’t even make it to a district championship. C2 #1 John Burroughs had to go to OT to eliminate #8 Principia 2-1. The Bombers cashed in on a corner kick during the first extra period to advance. C4 #1 CBC had all it could handle from #20 De Smet in its 1-0 win Wednesday. The Cadets capitalized on a corner kick early in the 2nd half in a high paced physical battle. CBC gets #5 Francis Howell Central in the finals after Central stopped rival Howell 2-0.
The C1 top squads, #1 Pembroke Hill and #2 Father Tolton lived up to expectations, each posting 8-0 wins. #5 Barstow awaits Pembroke Hill in the finals after an impressive 5-1 win over #12 Frontier. Tolton faces upstart #25 Smithton, who rallied past #13 Stover (+1.25) 3-2 in OT. Those two teams have met 32 times in the past 18 years with Stover winning 17 of them, but Smithton has prevailed the last two times when it counted.
#9 Faith Christian seems to have a firm handle of the C1D8 after topping #20 Frontier STEM 5-1. #34 Cameron became the lowest ranked team (so far) to make a District final when it knocked out #37 Northland Christian 3-1. Those two teams have combined for five wins on the year, while Faith Christian improved to 13-5.
Cape Girardeau’s C2 battle of 2-3 seeds didn’t disappoint. #18 Bayless upset #11 Perryville 2-1, setting up a final against #4 Notre Dame (Cape), who routed Fredericktown 8-0. IN C2D2 play, we leaned toward another #3 seed topping a #2 and #12 St. Mary’s South Side fulfilled that with a commanding 5-0 win over #38 Sullivan in a prime example of District seedings being complicated when the two teams don’t meet in the season. The Dragons advance to face #10 Lutheran South, 6-0 winners over Collegiate School of Med-Bio Science. Lutheran South edge St. Mary’s 3-2 earlier in the season.
C3 only had four games last night with the best match in Hillsboro where #13 Sikeston outlasted #38 West Plains 2-1 in OT. Sikeston had thumped the Zizzers 9-1 earlier in the season, but West Plains improved quite a bit over the season. Sikeston takes on #14 Farmington, who had little issue with #46 DeSoto. In C3D2, we will get the match everyone anticipated as #8 Rockwood Summit and #6 Webster Groves cruised to semifinal wins. That storied rivalry renews Saturday at Webster Groves for a place in the playoffs. The two teams have split 24 matches over the past 18 years, but Summit has won the previous three, including 2-1 this season and 2-1 in last year’s District.
The other C4 district in Springfield held true with #28 Glendale and #15 Nixa advancing. Glendale is 1 seed by virtue of an earlier season win over Nixa and both teams are on hot streaks so Monday’s final there should be a quality affair.
Thursday Preview
A busy night ahead with 34 games on the slate, including eight championships, half of those in C1.
Tonight’s Finals:
C1D2 #3 Metro (+.86) vs. #10 Whitfield
C1D3 #2 Father Tolton (+2.58) vs. #25 Smithton
C1D5 #11 St. Paul Lutheran (+1.22) vs. #22 Lone Jack
C1D8 #9 Faith Christian (+2.33) vs. #34 Cameron
C2D4 #6 Veritas Christian (+1.35) vs. #31 Duchesne
C2D5 #16 Southern Boone (+.38) vs. #24 Moberly
C4D6 # 22 Lee’s Summit (+.00) vs. #21 Lee’s Summit West (+.05)
C4D7 #3 Rockhurst (+1.08) vs. #14 Blue Springs
The game of the night has to be in Lee’s Summit where the two teams are virtually even. West is the lower seed and even topped Lee’s Summit 1-0 in late September. West also has a 7-1 mark against LS over the past four years, but the one LS win was in 2024 District play. Eight of the past nine matches between these two have been decided by a single goal, so every opportunity will be valued tonight for both teams.
Down the road in C4, #3 Rockhurst clashes with #14 Blue Springs as the Hawklets eye their 15th consecutive playoff appearance.
C2 has an intriguing top 5 match with #2 Priory (+.59) taking on #5 MICDS for the right to play #1 John Burroughs in the final.
C1D2 has a couple of top 10 teams playing for a playoff spot tonight with last year’s 3rd Place finisher Metro going against #10 Whitfield. The once dominant Whitfield (8 state titles and 12 Top 3 finishes) has scuffled a bit over the past few years (19-43), but a demanding schedule should have them prepared for a chance tonight.
Southern Boone rolled Moberly 5-1 way back on Sept. 8, so the Spartans hope to have improved since to have any shot at the D5 top seed. The game is within the “upset zone” (under .40).
#6 Veritas looks to hold off a surging #31 Duchesne squad in a C2D4 final. Veritas stopped Duchesne 3-0 10-26, but Duchesne is riding high off an upset win over 1 seed Orchard Farm.
The C2D8 semis feature four teams with winning records. #7 Kirksville (.53) is favored over #19 Savannah, while #9 Excelsior Springs (+.60) has an edge over #22 St. Pius.
C3 is all semis tonight but there are several intriguing games that may play out like finals. D4 has #2 St. Dominic (+2.59) as a heavy favorite over #28 Warrenton, while #4 Ft. Zumwalt South (+.65) has a more difficult game against #11 St. Charles.
C3D5 in Jeff City has a local rivalry - #24 Cap City (+1.13) facing off against #47 Jeff City and a near local rivalry in #23 Camdenton (+.84) vs. #44 Lebanon. The survivor of that district plays the D6 group, which is led by last year’s C2 champs, Springfield Catholic. The #9 Irish (+1.22) are favored over #35 Willard, but host #18 Logan-Rogersville (+.33) is in the upset zone against
#25 Springfield Central.
Last year’s C3 Champs, #7 Van Horn (+.67) faces a challenge from #16 Belton, while another too close to call semi with #17 Summit Christian (+.13) going against #19 St. Michael the Archangel. Both of those teams have recent playoff history with SCA finishing 4th in C3 last year and St. Michael taking 2nd in C2 in 2024.
C4D2 promised to be a loaded semifinal and tonight we get it. #2 SLUH is favored (+1.19) over #12 Lafayette, while #6 Marquette (+.20) and #7 Kirkwood are too close to call. Marquette prevailed 2-1 earlier. Should be a fun night at Ladue.
Wentzille’s C4D4 also has the potential of a big seed upset with #27 Timberland, the 6 seed, battling #19 Ft. Zumwalt West (+.34). #16 Rock Bridge (+.60) and #30 Troy haven’t met this year which should bring a nice freshness to that semi.
One final match C4D8 to watch tonight with seed/MPR quirkiness is #17 Liberty (+.30) and the 3 seed up against 2 seed and #23 Park Hill South. The Blue Jays are favored slightly as the lower seed, but PHS beat Liberty 3-1 in the regular season.
