2025 Boys Postseason #4 - Nov. 7

November 7, 2025 - What a Night! (Blog #4)

We even got shorted a game (more on that in a bit) from the original 35-game schedule, but Thursday did not disappoint. Nine teams punched their tickets for the playoffs (six in C2) and 25 others advanced. As expected, we had our share of shockers, close calls and drama that comes with local teams playing each other this time of the year. There is a certain intangible factor that pops into district play that gets emphasized when teams are meeting up for more than the first time in a season as many of the games last night featured rival teams very familiar with each other.

On tap for tonight and our segue into what happened to our 35th game last night…only four games (one in each class) and one of those was already partially played. #3 Ladue (+.45) and #7 Parkway West only got about 13 minutes into the scoreless match before having to stop due to the lights not working at Parkway South. They’ll resume with a drop ball tonight in the weirdest game “start” of the season.

The other three matches should be Friday Night Light dandies, soccer-style. In C1, D7 #4 Barstow (+.02) and #6 Lone Jack will sort that championship at Barstow, basically dead even based on the MPR. Barstow topped LJ 1-0 earlier in the year on that same field. C2 will get its 7th state qualifier tonight in a matchup of 20-win teams in D2. #3 Affton (+.53) is slightly favored over #8 Bayless, but the Broncos are riding high after eliminating last year’s champ Clayton in the semis. A couple of private school powers hook up in KC C3, D7. #9 Pembroke Hill (+.22) hosts #12 St. Michael in a rematch of an earlier game that saw PH get a 2-1 win on the road. The Guardians are coming off a 2nd place C2 finish last season.

A quick peak at Saturday’s four games - all finals - with three of them coming in C3. Note that all three “underdogs” in C3 are actually hosting those games, which could turn into an equalizer for those deficits.

C3, D2: #5 Rockwood Summit (+.62) at #13 Webster Groves
C3, D3: #1 Chaminade (+1.03) at #7 Priory
C3, D5: #10 Summit Christian (+.41) at #15 Capital City
C4, D4: #9 Ft. Zumwalt West (+.20) vs. #12 St. Dominic

Back to Thursday…

When it comes to C1 playoff soccer, “chaos” is often the term of the day. The one final in the class was as chaotic as it gets. #5 Sacred Heart (+1.72) and #27 Stover hooked up for the third time this year at Smithton with the favored Gremlins already owning two wins over the Bulldogs this year. Stover stunned Sacred Heart with two goals in the opening 20 minutes, but SH knotted it at 2 just six minutes later. The Gremlins went ahead midway through the second half and seemed poised to make its third consecutive playoff appearance, but Stover hit two almost identical 30+ yard bombs within 45 seconds of each other with 13 to play and held on for the huge upset, 4-3. The Bulldogs make just their second playoff appearance ever, with the first coming in 2023.

The rest of the C1 night went pretty much as planned, but 2 seeds Lutheran North and defending champ Valley Park both struggled in 1-0 semi wins over STEAM and Hancock, respectively. The top two squads in C1 #1 Veritas and #2 St. Mary’s each advanced to finals with three-goal wins.

Oh, and before we move on…the answer to yesterday’s trivia of course happened in C1. The largest upset recorded in the past five years and the only one ever to be over 2.00 in the MPR was actually a 3.45 difference when Northland Christian knocked out Frontier STEM 3-1 in 2024.

More “chaos in C1” proof:
In the past 5 years, C1’s MPR totals are the hardest to predict. Anything with two teams within .40 has been 50%, while .41-.99 is a 20% upset chance. By comparison, a C2 .40 differential has 41.7% chance of an upset, C3 has a 40% chance and C4 is at 30%. The .41-99 difference is even more pronounced as C2 is at 11.1% upset risk, C3 is 10% and C4 is 6.7%. 

For the non-math folks out there, what that all means is Class 1 can be quite unpredictable, and in many cases, quite fun (depending on what side of it you’re, on, of course!). Or, chaos…

Thursday was arguably the biggest night of the season in C2, as six championships were decided. The one we figured to be a coin-flip, basically was. D3 #18 Principia and #6 Orchard Farm had to settle things in OT before Principia advanced 2-1. They will host #11 Father Tolton, who rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit against #17 Southern Boone, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the second half for a 2-1 win. In D1 action, #13 Perryville escaped a strong challenge from #31 St. Pius X (Festus), winning 3-2. C2’s top team Springfield Catholic continued on its magical season, eliminating #4 Logan-Rogersville 4-0. Out west, #16 Harrisonville ousted #14 Pleasant Hill 2-0 and #24 Maryville became the first 3-seed to win a district when it shocked #27 and 1 seed Excelsior Springs 2-1 in OT. The top seeds in D6 scuffled a bit last night, but both advanced. #5 Marshall held off #34 Osage 3-1, while #12 Helias need OT to get past #21 Clinton 2-1.

C3’s biggest upset of the night came when 5-seed and #32 Webb City topped 1-seed Willard 1-0, setting up a meeting with 2-seed Carl Junction, who held off host Parkview 1-0. The most drama of the night was in Jeff City where #10 Summit Christian took down a solid #20 Borgia squad 1-0. Host #15 Capital City made two early goals stand up in a 2-1 win over #24 Camdenton. D4 had a blowout (top seed Ft. Zumwalt East over Hannibal) and a nail-biter with #8 Ft. Zumwalt South edging #17 Lutheran St. Charles 3-2 in OT. D1 also had small scare with top seed #22 Notre Dame holding on to a 1-0 win over a game #30 West Plains squad. #38 Poplar Bluff jumped out on host #26 Cape Central early in a 4-0 win. The D2 final is set with local rivals Rockwood Summit and Webster Groves set to meet tonight. WG ended #23 Pacific’s school-record season, 5-0, Summit topped Mehlville 4-2. Finally, in D8 action, #3 Van Horn continued its strong season with a 3-1 win over East. #18 Lincoln Prep awaits Van Horn as LP upset #11 Northeast 4-2, handing the Vikings their only loss after 22 wins to open the year.

C4 play also had some stunners as some Final Four favorites went home early. #5 Rock Bridge saw #21 Blue Springs South score twice in the second half en route to a 2-1 stunner in D7, handing the Bruins only its second loss. Two STL giants also are out. #11 Francis Howell stunned #10 CBC 2-1 in OT, and will meet backyard rival #8 Francis Howell Central, 1-0 winners over #6 DeSmet. The defending champs SLUH are in another final after slipping by Kirkwood 1-0. The Jr. Bills await the Ladue/Parkway West winner. #24 Vianney hasn’t had a typical year, but they are back in the district finals after edging Jackson 1-0, setting up a final with #4 Oakville, who had little trouble taking down #30 Northwest 5-1. It won’t be much of a surprise to know that #1 Rockhurst also is in the playoffs again, but the 2-1 win over #31 Lee’s Summit North was much closer than many imagined.

Next week: 15 championships over two days…14 Monday and one Tuesday with the quarters set across the state for next Saturday.