After losing a talented group of seniors including Graham Basecke and Devon Newpwort to Division 1 schools this year’s Falcons look to repeat last year’s success, which landed them in the state title game. The team will look to its six returning starters and captains Brandon Baum, Jordan Pitts, Chris Maddox and Patrick Baltz.

   “We have a lot of guys who were in the shadow of Devon and Graham, and now they get to shine,” said junior Alec Martinez

     Along with the new faces the Falcons have moved to a more offensive 3-5-2 system. 

   “It allows for a better counter attack,” said senior Brandon Baum. 

   This new system has helped the team score 27 goals in 11 games and start the season well with a 2-0 win over Ozark.                  

   “No local team can get in our way,” said Martinez.

     This held true against cross-town rival Kickapoo with the Falcons beating them 4-1. 

   “We played our first two games the best,” said junior Jake Rogers.

     After a great start the team’s momentum halted with two weeks without playing games due to weather cancellations. The team then played five games in six days going 4-2 during that run and having three games go into penalty kicks. The team maintained its poise and confidence through the streak of games. 

   “We are a hard team to beat twice,” said Rogers. 

  The team then rebounded by exploding offensively against West Plains beating them 8-0. With Patrick Baltz’s hat trick highlighting an effort that saw five different players finding the back of the net. 

   “Losing was not an option,” said Rogers.

  The team then had a disappointing loss against Camdenton falling in overtime 2-1.     

   “We out played them. It’s a mental thing and we just need to close games out,” said Martinez.

   After the previous two game rollercoaster the Falcons headed to St. Louis to play in the Gateway City Classic.  

   “We always go out and look for good competition in these tournaments,” said head coach Jeff Rogers. 

  The Gateway Classic matched them against teams from around the Midwest as they kicked the tournament off with a 2-1 win in penalty kicks over Glenbrook North.  

 “Penalty kicks are like field goals in football, the more we do it the better we will be in November,” said Coach Rogers. “You can’t simulate the pressure in practice.”

   However ups and downs continued as the team fell to fifth in state Fort Zumwalt South 2-0 but followed that with a 3-0 win against CBC B.

    As the team heads into the final three weeks of the regular season it will look forward to games in the Kickapoo Tournament. 

   “We could see Catholic, Liberty or Vianney in the tourney,” said Coach Rogers

   The team will also look forward to games against St. Louis powerhouse and nationally ranked Chaminade and Columbia schools Hickman and Rock Bridge to see how they fare at the state level.