A well-placed header by junior Henry Tsevis in the 24th minute gave the Rockhurst junior varsity all the goals they would need to close out their season with a 1-0 win over St. James Academy. They ended their year with a 15-1-1 record.
Rockhurst controlled the pitch for most of the game, maintaining possession for more than half of the game. Even when they lost the ball, the Hawklets quickly gained it back.
“It was a great way to end the season,” junior captain Aiden Comeau said. “We held them down the whole game.”
Rockhurst started the game looking to attack by way of dribbling through the midfield. Those attempts were promptly shut down by St. James. The Hawklets then adjusted and utilized quick one-touch passes that kept the Thunder on their heels for the rest of the game.
Conversely, St. James’ forwards couldn’t get a break all game. They kept getting turned away by Rockhurst’s backline. Hawklet defenders utilized their quickness to efficiently expel any threats, though they weren’t perfect. They let one through ball past, but goalkeeper junior Quinn Condon put a stop to that threat.
“It was a pretty boring game for me, which is a good thing,” Condon said. “I have some really great players in front of me, which makes my job easy.”
There were zero shots on goal and only four shots total taken by St. James. Condon didn’t let any goals in this season during regular time.
Rockhurst’s only loss this year was in penalty kicks against Shawnee Mission East in a tournament hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 5.
“That loss helped us see that we still need to get better,” junior captain Mohamad Abdalla said. “We were undefeated going into the tournament and thought we would leave undefeated. That loss woke us up.”
Rockhurst played Aquinas the same day and beat them 4-0.
The Rockhurst soccer program is renowned nationwide for its excellence. A .912 winning percentage by the JV Hawklets showed the talent doesn’t just lie at the varsity level.
Despite their convincingly winning season, the team did have its eyes on an even better fall.
“We were looking for a perfect season, but compared to the other schools around us, I guess we did pretty good,” manager Reece Kass said.
