Cats are Star struck

Six minutes into the second half, Blue Springs felt like it could upset St. Teresa’s.
Three minutes later, those hopes were dashed and the game was essentially over.
The Wildcats tied it 1-1 in the 46th minute on a Tara Beck goal. But St. Teresa’s scored two more in the next three minutes on the way to a 6-1 win Thursday to claim the Class 2 District 15 championship at Blue Springs South High School’s Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium.
“We got the goal and it was like, (deep breath), ‘Oh, all right,’ ” Wildcats coach Doug McLagan said. “You can’t do that against a top quality team. It (ticked) them off. They marked right back down field and nearly (scored on the kickoff). We’re still in the mode of getting it tied. And by the time we got out of that, it was 3-1.”
After Beck’s goal, St. Teresa’s immediately took the ensuing kickoff down the field, nearly answering within 20 seconds. It took less than two minutes for the Stars (21-2) to score what would be the game-winning goal in the 48th minute. They added another in the 49th.
“They got a lot of momentum,” Beck said. “They got mad we scored. They wanted to push it and score right away, and they did.”
The Stars added three more goals in the final 10 minutes to pad the lead.
The game was scoreless for the first 35 minutes, before St. Teresa’s put in a late goal to take a 1-0 halftime advantage. Beck then tied it, giving her team hope.
“I was so pumped,” defender Jordan Joyce said of Beck’s goal. “I think I screamed so much I almost lost my voice, I was so excited. Then it seemed like seconds later they scored. It’s just deflating.”
The loss closed out a winning season for the Wildcats (11-9) – the first since this year’s seniors were freshmen. It was also the first trip to the district championship game since that year.
“It means the world,” said Joyce, a senior, about her team’s strong season. “We haven’t been in a district final since my freshman year. It’s great my senior year to get back. Beating South (in the semifinals) was an amazing game. Tonight was a pretty good game for the first 50 minutes.”
St. Teresa’s, which has won four state titles in the last six years, meets Suburban Big Seven champion Liberty at 7 p.m. Tuesday at South in Class 2 sectional play. The winner of that game meets Lee’s Summit or Truman in the state quarterfinals on May 24.