Finally Here: Postseason Play

Finally Here: Postseason Play                                                                            10/25/12

It’s come to that time of year. This is what everyone has been looking forward to. It’s the playoffs. The entire season, hundreds of schools around the state compete for their chance in this tournament, and Chaminade certainly has earned their place. With an unbelievable 21-2-2 record, the Red Devils go into the state tournament with the highest seed.

On Saturday, Hazelwood East will take on McCluer, both trying to advance to Monday, where one of them will face the Red Devils. East’s defense will have a tough time defending Pape Ndiaye (McCluer), who has 9 goals this season. When the two teams met twice earlier in the season, McCluer won, beating the Spartans by 5 in each contest. It should be an outcome in favor of McCluer on Saturday at 2.

After their game (versus Hazelwood East of McCluer) on Monday, the Red Devils will look forward to playing one of their Metro Catholic rivals. If all goes as expected in the tournament, SLUH will play the Red Devils at Chaminade the following Saturday, November 3. Their last meeting was full of excitement, but not of goals. Regardless, Chaminade stole a victory from the Bills in overtime, with Ryan Fagan (’14) scoring the winning (and only) goal of the match. Head-to-head, the teams are 1-1, but with the home crowd that the Red Devils have, the match will be a tough, hard-fought one.

Looking down the line further, the only other game where Chaminade or SLUH could meet another MCC team would be the State finals. Vianney, being the lone Metro Catholic team in District 6, would have to go through fantastic teams like Webster, Kirkwood, and Lindbergh to just get to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The other two teams of the MCC, CBC and Desmet, play each other in their first District 8 on Saturday at 4:30. The game will be a hard one for either side to win. Whatever the outcome, the respective team would most likely have to play a stellar 15-2 Marquette team.

This will be one of the most exciting tournaments in years for not only Chaminade, but the entire MCC. Two meet at the beginning, but will two meet at the end of the tournament? It’s a question that we will have to wait until November 17 to find out, but the wait will be worthwhile.  All teams are out for a state ring, especially the Red Devils, searching for their first state title since 2006.

For more information regarding the bracket and all districts of the Class 3 Missouri State Tournament, visit http://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/DistrictWinners.aspx?alg=33&class=3 .

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