2024 Boys Postseason #2 - Quarterfinals Ahead

November 15 - Quarterfinal Preview

After ten days of district playoff action the quarterfinals await Saturday with the winners advancing to the MO Final Four that now has a venue and time/date change due to flooding/field damage at World Wide Soccer Park. Instead, the 57th edition of Missouri’s Soccer Championships will move to Hunter Stadium at Lindenwood University in St. Charles with Class 1 and 2 taking place Nov. 20-21 and Class 3 and 4 Nov. 22-23 since there is only a single field set up. Lindenwood hosted the state tournament from 1978-1985. Check on MSHSAA’s website for updated dates and times.

So far we’ve had 194 matches across the state during district play, and with a few exceptions, the top teams in each district survived, making the tournament ahead one of the stronger fields in recent history. 

A look at some numbers:

District Seeding and MO Power Rankings were identical in predicting winners: 165/194 (85.2%). 

16 of the 20 top 5 teams in each class advanced, including all five in C1, four in C2, three in C3 and four in C4. 

Of the 29 upsets, only six came with an MPR difference of .50 or higher. The biggest upset of the tournament was Northland Christian’s 3-1 win over Frontier STEM (+3.45) in the C1 D8 opening round. Fun note to that game, Frontier had beat Northland 8-0 in the last regular season game. Only one other game had a difference of over 1, STEAM Academy’s 2-1 win over Canton (+1.06) in C1. The other four over .5 could all be considered local/rivalry games which have a tendency to even out the playing field. Blue Springs over Blue Springs South, Lee’s Summit over Lee’s Summit West. St. Pius X (Festus) over Saxony Lutheran and Parkway West over Webster Groves all fit the bill and all were by one goal.

District hosts went 12 for 32 in winning championships. C1 - 4/8, C2 - 3/8, C3 - 3/8 and C4 2/8.

Key: School (MO Power Ranking) (+point differential between the two teams with the higher ranked team having the +). The higher the point total difference, the more that team is “favored” based on season results.

Class 1
Notes: All four favored teams will be on the road, which might level the playing field some due to travel and unfamiliar surroundings, BUT three of those four games are being hosted on neutral fields. Only St. Pius X (KC) will be hosting on its own field. Valley Park-Metro will feature the two teams atop the final C1 MPR rankings and the two teams who have been on top of the rankings since late September. Valley Park beat Metro 3-1 earlier…New Heights Christian upset #1 seed Greenwood 3-1, but New Heights was actually the higher-ranked team by MPR. Lone Jack and St. Pius had nearly identical MPR scores, which should make for an entertaining quarter. Lone Jack opened the season 0-2 but has won 20 of its last 21. St. Pius X had the strongest schedule of the eight remaining teams, with Crocker having the weakest schedule. Missouri Military Academy won its first district since 2018. Sacred Heart is looking to get back to the Final Four for the first time since a four-year run ended in 2017. All C1 Final Four teams from last season have been eliminated so C1 will continue its run of fresh faces in the finals. Three of the four from last year all moved up a class due to the Success Factor.

Valley Park (1) (+.13) at Metro (2) 1:00 at Gateway STEM

Sacred Heart (8) (+.14) at New Heights Christian (11) 2:00 at Carl Junction

Missouri Military Academy (3) (+.76) at Crocker (13) 2:00 at School of the Osage

Lone Jack (4) (+.01) at St. Pius (KC) (5) 4:00

Class 2
Notes: C2 also stayed close to the MPR results, with only #4 Logan-Rogersville’s 2-1 2OT win over #3 Bolivar the blemish in having the top three alive. #1 Clayton has the largest MPR advantage of any game Saturday and will be a tough out at home against a Lutheran South squad that won D1 as the 2 seed. Moberly pulled off two upsets in D4 to advance but will be the lowest ranked MPR team left in any class and faces a tough match at home against Orchard Farm, last year’s third place finisher. St. Michael the Archangel has been at either #1 or #2 all season long in C2 but has a tricky task on the road at Excelsior Springs. St. Michael seeks its first Final Four while playoff-experienced Excelsior Springs is looking for its 4th straight trip. Three of last year’s Final Four teams are still alive - the only exception is 2023 champ Westminster Christian, which moved to C3 due to the Success Factor.


Lutheran South (14) at Clayton (1) (+1.58) 5:00

Logan-Rogersville (4) (+.14) at Marshall (6) 1:00

Orchard Farm (5) (+.83) at Moberly (28) 1:00

St. Michael the Archangel (2) (+.55) at Excelsior Springs (9) 1:00

Class 3 
Notes: Six of the top 8 in C3 advanced. Van Horn, a 3 seed, eliminated defending champion East KC 3-1 in the D8 finals while also getting a measure of revenge after falling to East in last year’s quarters. The Falcons will host Pembroke Hill, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Van Horn slipped past the Raiders 2-1 Oct. 24 so the two teams will be quite familiar with each other. #2 Vianney has the biggest MPR advantage when it hosts #22 Farmington, a team that lost three of four entering the playoffs, but found its form in D1. Vianney coach Brian Haddock is seeking to win a girls title (Nerinx Hall) and a boys title in the same year. #1 Ladue, last year’s Cinderella runner-up in a season that nearly didn’t happen due to suspensions, has a tough task on the road against an athletic and dangerous Hannibal squad that finally broke into the state playoffs for the first time since 2013. Hannibal has won 21 straight. D5 3 seed Borgia took out two consecutive Jefferson City schools (#2 Helias and #1 Cap City) in Jefferson City for the right to travel to #4 Springfield Catholic. The Irish own a 14-game winning streak. Two Final Four participants from ’23 are still alive - Ladue and Springfield Catholic. 

Farmington (22) at Vianney (2) (+1.17) 12:00

St. Francis Borgia (16) at Springfield Catholic (4) (+.64) 1:00

Ladue Horton Watkins (1) (+.70) at Hannibal (8) 4:00

Pembroke Hill (6) (+.04) at Van Horn (7) 6:00

Class 4
Notes: It’s no surprise that the C4 favorite is #1 Rockhurst, the three-time defending C4 champ and winner of 10 titles overall. The Hawklets, seeking to become the first four-time consecutive boys champ in state history, haven’t lost to a MO team since mid-October 2022 and will be heavily favored at home against Glendale. However, Glendale’s only two blemishes came against playoff teams (SLUH and Liberty North) and Coach Jeff Rogers is closing in on 1100 career wins overall so the Falcons will be well-prepared. #4 Lindbergh, last year’s 3rd place finisher, travels to #3 DeSmet in what should be a dandy. DeSmet survived back to back MCC teams (Chaminade and CBC) in its district and look for a return to the Final Four for the first time since winning it in 2019. The SLUH/Liberty (Wentzville) matchup also promises to be special as the two have shown to be challengers all year. SLUH rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit to take out perennial November darling John Burroughs 3-2 in 2OT, while Liberty upset #2 St. Dominic 3-2, also in 2OT. Liberty seeks its first Final Four and SLUH looks to go back for the first time since 2013 and 17th overall. The final quarter has #7 Rock Bridge back on the road at #15 Liberty North. The Bruins played all three district games nearly two hours away in Blue Springs and will make the longer trek to Liberty to play the Eagles. Liberty North ousted last year’s runner-ups Park Hill South in penalties, while the Bruins held off upset-minded Blue Springs 2-1. LN seeks its first Final Four. 

Lindbergh (4) at DeSmet Jesuit (3) (+.29) 1:00

Glendale (6) at Rockhurst (1) (+.72) 12:00

SLUH (8) at Liberty (Wentzville) (5) (+.30) 2:00

Rock Bridge (7) (+.40) at Liberty North (15) 5:00