Playing in the midfield for Perryville in the 2014 Class 2 state title game, Schlichting scored one of the Pirates’ six second-half goals in a 7-0 shutout of Soldan. Perryville lost to O’Hara 1-0 for the Class 2 title in 2015 after Schlichting graduated. Those are the only state trophies Perryville has earned in the sport.
Now Schlichting, 24, will get a chance to chart the destiny of another green-clad soccer program. He was approved by the De Soto Board of Education in May to succeed Nate Reiser as head coach of both the girls and boys teams. Reiser stepped down this spring after nine years piloting the Dragons.
Schlichting will teach in the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program at De Soto. He attended Jefferson College and graduated from McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill. where he was an assistant coach for the men’s team the past two years.
In May, Schlichting had told his old Perryville coach, Jerry Fulton, that he wasn’t sure he wanted to get into high school athletics. But after talking with De Soto’s school administrators, he decided the Dragon opening would be a great opportunity. Perryville and De Soto are both members of the Jefferson County Activities Association.
“Everyone has been very supportive,” Schlichting said. “I wanted to at least try out college coaching and I really enjoyed it. The more I thought about it, coaching in high school is a unique opportunity, being so young and to come back and step into a head coaching role.”
Schlichting recently moved to Crystal City and has been evaluating the players who participated in the De Soto boys and girls soccer camps over the last six weeks. Like many other soccer coaches, he has to compete with football for athletic talent. Bradley Hunt defected from the Dragon soccer team to the gridiron full time and has become one of the top players for De Soto.
“There’s certain skill sets the kids have missed out on; that’s why my focus is with the youth groups to try and build those relationships,” Schlichting said.
“It’s been a struggle for the boys and girls programs and I want to build them from the bottom up by building the youth programs and making the sport enjoyable. Once the kids do that, the winning follows.”
The dynamic energy of youth set Schlichting apart from other candidates for the job, De Soto activities director Jon Roop said.
“He’s fresh out of college and has been coaching in those ranks and was ready to take over his own program,” Roop said. “The kids have responded well to him. He’s very knowledgeable of the game. When I watch him, he knows what he’s doing. He’s run a well-organized, structured program from the get-go. A lot of coaches don’t.
“I’m thrilled we were able to get him on as head coach. The sky’s the limit for him.”
The Dragon girls program needs rebuilding after seeing its 2020 season canceled by COVID and going 1-14 this spring. Under Reiser, the girls were winless in district play. Their best record was 7-13-1 in 2016.
Reiser led the boys to a Class 2 District 2 championship in 2013, shutting out Festus, North County and Hillsboro before falling to Schlichting and Perryville in the sectional round. The Dragon boys also had winning seasons in 2015 (12-10) and 2018 (10-9) but slipped to 5-13 in 2021.
Schlichting will get a different view of play in the JCAA, going from player to coach. St. Pius X, St. Vincent, Perryville, Windsor and Hillsboro all have strong boys and girls programs that consistently compete for championships.
“To be completely honest, I’ve been away from the high school game for a while, so I’m not super in-tune with the teams anymore,” he said. “I’m a bit new to it and not sure where we’re going to match up when we step on the field.”
Schlichting’s experience pursuing a state championship as a player should help him breathe life into the Dragons.
The Pirates won their state crown on a bitterly cold mid-November day in Blue Springs. Schlichting said a steady snow fell throughout the game.
“I don’t remember too much about all the goals, but a couple of buddies we had were on Soldan. We had no idea who Soldan was or what kind of players they had,” Schlichting said.
Perryville beat St. Pius X (Kansas City) 3-2 in a memorable semifinal. Conner Stark headed in a throw-in by Kyle Wood at 74:34 for the game-winning goal.
“That was a tough game,” Schlichting said. “We didn’t know too much about (St. Pius) but knew they’d be good. We were up 2-0 and let them tie it up. That was another thrilling game from that year.”
Schlichting keeps in touch with his former teammates and is a firm believer that the closer a team is, the more success it will have.
“That was the case with our team,” he said. “The majority of us had played together for most of our lives and that’s what I want to bring into this program, a brotherhood and sisterhood.”