A missed opportunity turned into a 1-0 loss for the Eureka girls soccer team Monday at Fort Zumwalt South, dropping the Wildcats below .500 at 4-5-2.
The American flag behind the FZS goal was whipping straight out when Wildcat head coach Mike Hanna won the coin toss and made the easy choice to attack with the wind. But the first half ended scoreless with Bulldog senior goalkeeper Madison Clubb making some key saves.
The field flipped for the second half and only one minute had elapsed when sophomore FZS attacker Brielle Gilbert, her team’s leading scorer, booted a penalty kick past senior goalie Jenna Selbert for the only goal of the night.
“We won the toss, so we got the benefit of the wind in the first half,” Hanna said. “It’s always windy here for some reason. We got our chances. Even in the second half, going into the wind, lots of great chances. We had the ball inside the 18 (yard line) and maybe the six multiple times, we just could not find the back of the net.”
The Wildcats’ best chances were senior midfielder Bailey Flanagan’s liner off the crossbar and senior midfielder Alessandra Carvalhaes’s close-in shot snagged by sophomore Jenna Walkenhorst, who replaced Clubb in goal in the second half.
“(Carvalhaes) had a couple of good looks,” Hanna said. “(Sophomore forward Caroline Conley) had a couple of good looks. It’s the girls we’re expecting to score right now. We had good control for good portions of this game, similar to the (last two wins).”
It was Eureka’s second consecutive 1-0 loss, the first coming April 23 at home against Nerinx Hall in the first meeting of the two schools since the 2024 Class 4 state championship game, won 2-1 by the Markers in double overtime. Zumwalt South (9-4-1) was third in Class 3 last year.
Injuries have contributed to Eureka’s tough season. Junior forward Marleigh Allen hasn’t played since she took herself out of the game against Parkway Central on April 14 with a leg injury. Allen scored 14 goals last season and has three so far this spring.
“We came in (tonight) with three subs and finished with two, and that’s been our M.O. this season,” Hanna said. “We cannot seem to stay healthy. We’re hoping they’re back at the end of the year because we look pretty scary when you add three or four girls.”
The two losses came on the heels of two wins over Suburban Conference Yellow pool opponents. The Wildcats beat Rockwood Summit (10-4) 3-1 on April 17 and shut out Kirkwood 4-0 on April 21. Marquette (7-4, 4-1) leads the conference and hosts Eureka (2-1) today (May 1) with a chance to clinch at least a share of the league championship.
Against the visiting Falcons, Conley netted two goals and Carvalhaes had the third tally. Selbert made four saves against Kirkwood for her third shutout of the season. Conley dinged the Pioneers for two goals and sophomore forward Addy Niedergerke tallied the other two. Conley has scored 19 goals in a season-and-a-half of varsity play.
Three of the Wildcats’ five remaining games before they host the District 4 tournament are against Yellow pool opponents. Their final game of the regular season is at Troy Buchanan (3-8) on May 15. Marquette and Lafayette (7-5) are also in District 4. The Lancers beat Eureka 2-1 on penalty kicks April 8.
Boys volleyball falls at home
The Eureka boys volleyball team lost four consecutive matches, all in straight sets, to drop to 12-6 heading into May and the homestretch of the regular season.
In a Yellow pool match at home against Marquette (19-8) on Monday night, the Mustangs won handily 25-19, 25-19, 25-17.
Senior Sutton Reed leads the team with 218 kills in 538 attacks. He’s ably supported by Jack McMillen (171 in 319).
The Wildcats are competing at a tournament at Lafayette on Friday and Saturday. Eureka will wrap up the regular season at home against Rockwood Summit (15-8-1) on May 5 and at St. Francis Borgia of Washington (11-11-1) on May 6.
Wildcats drop 2 to Rockwood Summit
Eureka baseball’s five-game winning streak going into mid-April has become a distant memory in the wake of five losses in six games since then.
The Wildcats dipped to 11-8 in losing 6-3 to Westminster Christian Academy on April 25 in a game host Eureka led 3-1 going into the sixth inning.
Righthander Michael Siebels started on the mound for Eureka and didn’t allow a hit in his four innings, but walked three and hit three batters. In came lefty Cade Gustafson, the first of four relievers attempting to preserve the lead. But the visitors scored twice in the sixth for a 3-3 tie and strung together a double, triple and single in the top of the seventh to go on top 6-3. Owen Leingang held Eureka scoreless in the bottom half and earned the pitching win on four innings of work.
Eureka outhit the “other” Wildcats 9-6 but couldn’t recover from the late onslaught.
“We did some really good things from an offensive standpoint,” Eureka head coach Ken Droege said. “(Siebels) was good. We flirted with fire with some hit-by-pitches and walks and that’s why we made a move, but I thought he was good enough to win this game.”
Droege expressed his frustration about Eureka’s recent stretch of close-but-losing games. In a home-and-home Suburban Conference Yellow pool series against Rockwood Summit on April 22-23, the Falcons (12-4) beat the Wildcats 5-4 in nine innings in the first game and 4-3 after scoring three runs in the sixth in game two. Droege coached Summit to the Class 4 state championship in 2012.
“We had a bad (seventh) inning (against Westminster) and it got away from us and that’s kind of been our story lately,” Droege said. “We’re learning to play that hard seven (innings) and do what we need to do to win games. We’re not complete yet. We’re close.”
In the first inning against Westminster, Siebels plunked Ethan Martin and Asher Waitkus, but Martin was out in a rundown between second and third base and Siebels struck out Joey Fentress to end the threat. Siebels fanned two more WCA batters in the second frame, retiring the side in order.
Cole Rogers led off the Eureka second with a single off righthander Grady Arnold. After a sacrifice bunt by AJ Scott pushed Rogers to second, Cason Smith doubled him home for a 1-0 lead.
Siebels escaped trouble in the third when two runners he’d walked were stranded. In the bottom of the frame, leadoff batter Kyle Rehg doubled and made it 2-0 when Tyler Sweeney singled. Sweeney finished three-for-four on the day.
With one out in the fourth, Siebels walked Ridge Cathcart, who stole second and went to third on a flyout. Siebels had a 1-1 count on AJ Stovall when Cathcart stole home to cut the Eureka lead to 2-1.
Leingang relieved Arnold in the fourth and pitched around a single by Colin Wood. Siebels hit Jake Keane with a pitch to lead off the Westminster fifth. Gustafson gave up a single by Cal Leighton and Keane scooted to second. Martin bunted, but Gustafson jumped on it and started a 1-5-3 double play to maintain the lead.
Eureka increased its advantage to 3-1 in the fifth. Sweeney led off with a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Leingang. Sweeney stole third and scored on John Haberkorn’s single.
In the Westminster sixth, Waitkus singled and Fentress walked and a Gustafson balk moved them up a base with no outs. Cathcart hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Waitkus to make it 3-2. A Gustafson error on Drew Messey’s bunt allowed Fentress to score and tie the game. The rally ended when Rehg gobbled up a grounder at second base, stepped on the bag and fired to first baseman Rogers for the double play, followed by a Gustafson strikeout.
Singles by Wood and Sweeney and a walk to Rehg weren’t enough for Eureka to retake the lead in the sixth. In the seventh, Leighton’s one-out double chased Gustafson in favor of Tyler Hall, who gave up an RBI triple to Martin that scored Leighton to make it 4-3. Waitkus slapped an RBI single that knocked out Hall. Drew Mohesky faced Fentress, who promptly smacked an RBI single for the final run of the game. Levi Fieser replaced Mohesky on the hill and put out the fire.
Leingang retired Eureka in order in the seventh. He allowed five hits and struck out two.
“We’re a hit or two away and Westminster’s a good club,” Droege said. “(Leingang) threw a nice game.”
In the 5-4 loss to visiting Summit, the Wildcats had six hits off Falcon pitchers Blane Branscum and Cam Mosier, the biggest being Gustafson’s single that scored Smith to tie the game 4-4 in the seventh. In the Summit eighth, Haberkorn was on the mound and got three groundouts to Sweeney at shortstop, then started the bottom of the inning with a single. A walk to Fieser and single by Scott loaded the bases, but Eureka left them stranded.
Summit’s Teagan Thomason doubled in the ninth and scored the winning run on a one-out single by Kaden Dinges.
In the second game, at Summit, the score was 1-1 going into the sixth when Eureka pushed across two runs. But the Falcons answered with three of their own and blanked the visitors in the seventh for the final score.
Eureka starter Jaxson Joggerst pitched five and 1/3 innings, striking out five, allowing seven hits and four runs (two earned). He was relieved in the sixth by Ben Lackey, who walked two and had a clean sheet otherwise. Haberkorn had two of Eureka’s four hits and scored two runs.
“Another good, well coached squad,” Droege said of his former team. “We know what we’re going to get with them. It came down to a mistake here or there late.
“We’ve lost five of six games and it’s time to get back down to the basics. We got a little ahead of ourselves early.”
Despite his ties with both schools, Droege said there’s no question where his loyalty lies.
“I had a great run there, but my heart is here. This is the challenge that I love. I wish we were playing better right now, but I know the game and it will test your toughness and resolve.”
Seniors break school discus, shot put records
Two Eureka seniors broke school records for the boys track and field team at the Henle Holmes Invitational at Parkway Central on April 17.
Jack Lange set the school record in the shot put with a throw of 17.99 meters, while Jaeger Funk is the new record holder in the discus at 48.76. The Wildcats finished third in the boys standings with 86 points. Suburban Conference rival Lafayette won with 133.5.
At Parkway North’s Fred Lyon Invitational on April 25, Lange did not compete in the shot put, but Funk came in fifth in the discus in 43.83. Another Suburban Conference rival, Kirkwood, won the boys title at Lyon with 105 points. The Wildcats were seventh with 48.
Lafayette, Kirkwood and Eureka will all meet again at the Class 5 District 2 meet at Parkway South on May 17. The conference meets, divided into pools, are on May 9. The Wildcats are at Parkway South today (May 1) and Friday for the Jim Schmuck Patriot Classic.
Wildcat junior Kai Mitchell won the pole vault in 3.80 meters at Henle Holmes and upped his height to 4.27 for second place at Lyon. Eureka had two state medal winners (William Geiler and Carter Langenbacher) in the pole vault last season.
“Our district this year is probably better than the state meet last year in the pole vault,” Eureka head coach Brad DeMattei said. “(Mitchell has) put himself right in the middle of it.”
Junior Braylen Bennett has won the high jump at Eureka’s last two meets, clearing 1.90 in both.
“He’s been right at (1.90) and is awfully close to 2.0,” DeMattei said.
Kaden Klages, a junior, broke 23 seconds for the first time in the 200, clocking 22.77 at Lyon. He ran 23.38 at Henle.
Despite shuffling his relay lineups, DeMattei said his team had its fastest times of the season in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 in the past two meets.
The Eureka girls placed third at Henle with 77 points and fourth at Lyon with 72. Lafayette (97.5) and Marquette (97) were the respective team champions.
Wildcat girls head coach Darrell Lewis was pleased with his team’s finish in both meets. There were 18 girls teams at Henle and 16 at Lyon.
“I was extremely happy,” Lewis said. “We pulled up the JV kids and varsity kids in one event.”
Senior Ayla Bishop has won most of her competitions in the pole vault this year, but fell to second at Henle in 3.31 meters. Francis Howell North junior Rebecca McGuire won in 3.51. Bishop cleared 3.35 to win handily at Lyon.
“It’s nice knowing you’re going to have eight or 10 points in every meet with her,” Lewis said.
After finishing second in the 1,600 in 5:13.14 at Henle, Eureka junior Brooke Samuelson won the 400 in 1:00.02 the following week. She also ran a leg on the 4x200 relay that was fourth in 1:48.31 last week. Maclyn Brickman, Zara Renner and Madison Doss ran the other legs.
“We experimented with this,” Lewis said. “We went into it with a mentality to use this (Lyon) meet as a workout,” Lewis said. “We kind of know how fast (Samuelson) is, but we hadn’t given her the opportunity to show it and she did that in this meet. Her 800-meter strength allowed her to pull away.”
Other Eureka girls set PRs at Lyon, including Hannah Garrett, who was fourth in the javelin in 27.98. Sophomore Sofia Hoerchler ran her fastest time in the 3,200 by 12 seconds with a sixth-place time of 11:48.72. Junior Abby Smith came in fourth in the 800 in 2:28.80, tying her season best. Junior Paige Deakin was fourth in the discus in a PR of 33.70.
“(Deakin) has been pretty consistent for us there,” Lewis said. “She’s about that distance in every meet. She’s not winning the event, but most meets she scores four to six points.”
The Eureka girls host their annual Kimble/Wintermeyer Invitational on Thursday and Friday. Thirteen teams will be there, including Lafayette, Mary Institute-Country Day School, Rockwood Summit, Nerinx Hall, Northwest and Seckman.