The Crusader’s scored five more, many just as opportunistic as they were relentless in going forward. The Warrior’s fought valiantly in holding them off – think Chelsea vs Barcelona in style – but despite their best efforts that left them drained at the final whistle, it is St Dominic’s that moves on.

PHOTO GALLERY St Dominic Crusaders vs St Charles West Warriors

Kristin Wolff scored in the 58th, when sophomore Molly Ream sent a cross from the left endline that Wolff headed in at the far post. Syndi Young scored from 8 yards out in the 60th, Christina Rodriguez in the 72nd, Hayley Ennis in the 77th and Katie Heiligenstein in the final seconds, a result that got her mobbed by her teammates after the final whistle blew. This team has a take-no-prisoners attitude that will hold them in good stead as they chase the hardware that awaits a champion in Blue Springs on June 2nd.

Before then, they face Union on Tuesday May 22nd and assuming they advance, they’ll face the winner of Visitation and St Charles Sectional match in a Quarterfinal on Saturday May 26th. Add that date to your calendar. Remember what happened the last time those two teams met?

Where will you be watching? Here are a few watch parties I’m aware of that are open to all!

Local supporters group the St Louligans are headed for Perennial Artisan Ales on the South-side, reason enough to enjoy a game in the company of other fans. Here’s the Facebook event.

St Louis Pick-Up soccer, a loosely organized group that coordinates daily games throughout the region, will congregate at OB Clark’s in Brentwood along with the St Louis Soccer United FC group. Here’s their Facebook event.

American Outlaws – St Louis will gather at Amsterdam Tavern, part of their training in anticipation of the upcoming slate of US Men’s games that begin with Scotland on May 26th.

And for the folks on the far South-side, Smugala’s in Oakville will have a special guest on hand for the game tomorrow. Tim Ream is home from England and he will sign autographs before the Champions League final…….Welcome Tim back home and have lunch at

What: Champions League Final – Bayern Munich vs Chelsea
When: 1:45 pm start, 1:00 pm pre-game show on Fox Soccer
Where: From Munich, Germany

npower Championship PLAYOFF FINAL: Blackpool v West Ham United
Saturday May 19, 9:00 am on Fox Soccer Channel

When it comes to play-off success, no team in the country can hold a candle to Blackpool. Eleven such matches the Tangerines have now played, and while this was the first they have failed to win outright, a draw was enough to ensure they will be West Ham United’s opponents at Wembley on Saturday week.

They could not have been pushed any harder though. With half an hour remaining Birmingham City were three goals down on aggregate and seemingly on the way to certain defeat. Having over-achieved all season, Chris Hughton’s side were never going to give up the ghost, and in an almost desperately frantic finale pulled two goals back and gave everything they had in search of the vital third.

The only goal of the game, it sends the Angels to a Sectional game Tuesday against visiting Northwest Cedar Hill. The other Sectional game will feature Incarnate Word hosting Eureka, who beat Marquette 3-2, getting the golden goal in the 1st overtime period.

PHOTO GALLERY – St Joseph vs Nerinx Class 3 District 2 Title game (also below)

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The teams will wrap up their season by mid-June and have 4 or 5 Conference games remaining in a 14 game slate. The St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri U-15/16 is best positioned for post-season play, with a 6-3-0 record from their nine games. One of those losses was 0-1 and it was against their foe on Friday, the St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro U-15/16. It was a quality game that is enhanced by being a derby game. I’m sorry I’ll miss it since SLSG has chosen to schedule this while High School Districts are still underway. Wish it was Saturday instead…

Friday May 18, 6:00 pm – SLSG Missouri U-17/18 vs SLSG Metro U-17/18
Friday May 18, 8:00 pm – SLSG Missouri U-15/16 vs SLSG Metro U-15/16

For the St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro U-17/18 and St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri U-17/18, who played to a 1-1 tie back in March, it’s the last chance for local bragging rights. It’s also the last chance for the locals to see the boys as their remaining games will be out-of-town.

SLSG Academy warming up on new main field at Soccer Park. twitter.com/4Pech/status/2…

— Steve Pecher (@4Pech) May 16, 2012

You can get a glimpse of the new surface in this very short video. Note the new LED signboard going up as well.

I’ve seen that red-headed guy somewhere, was it a Simpson’s episode?

The 2012 Development Academy Finals Week will be held July 16-23 in Houston, with the Under-15/16 and U-17/18 championship matches taking place at BBVA Compass Stadium, the new home for Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo.

The Eagles win 4-0 over Lutheran St Peters, avenging a regular season loss (1-2 in early April) and setting up a likely battle with Principia in the Quarterfinals.

The Cougars took the opening kick-off down into the Orchard Farm box, forcing a keeper save that the Eagles followed with an attack of their own. To their delight, they converted when in the 4th minute when Brooke Burckhardt sent Megan Boschert into the box. Boschert got around the keeper who came out to challenge and finished into an empty net.

The opening flurry gave hope of a back-and-forth affair today but Lutheran didn’t seem to have the same spark as Orchard Farm. Certainly the memories of last year’s run to the Final 4 were fresh in their mind and motivation was much easier to find. That motivation displayed itself in both a disciplined defensive posture that saw the Cougars regularly get 8 players behind the ball but more importantly, the breakout speed the team has gave them the opportunity to get forward regularly.

Lutheran continued to go forward with their best opportunities coming via corner kicks but the Eagle defense was stout in front of their keeper. Orchard Farm used their speed to extend their lead in the 31st minute when after a pair of shots by the Cougars, Burckhardt got a goal of her own when a cross found her unmarked on the far side. The third goal came in the 36th minute on a corner kick, initially headed on frame by Burkchardt but knocked down by the keeper. Alexis Robbers, the Eagles leading scorer with 25 going into today’s game, pounced on the loose ball and buried it into the roof of the net from one yard out.

Robbers completed the scoring in the 57th minute, again from a corner kick. The initial ball was cleared but Grace (? #7, no rosters provided and not listed on the STLtoday.com site) hammereded the clearance into the box where Robbers again was the first to pounce on a loose ball, slotting it to the far side of the net.

The Sectional game will be Tuesday May 22nd in either Winfield or Canton.

Via UEFA.com – Last year’s win was a first title for both Lyon and France, turning the tables on 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam after their defeat against the German side in the inaugural UEFA Women’s Champions League final 12 months previously. Goals from Wendie Renard and Lara Dickenmann secured a 2-0 victory at Craven Cottage in London.

11:00 Thursday May 17 – UEFA Women’s Champions League LYON-FRANKFURT (live) on GolTV

Lyon are only the second team to reach three straight finals. Umeå IK played in the first three showpieces, in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In the first and last of those they played Frankfurt, who have now equalled the Swedish team’s mark of five finals. READ MORE

As many as 13 additions will be announced May 20 and will be a mixture of domestic and foreign-based players to round out the training camp. The team will train in Orlando until May 25, when Klinsmann will select a final 23-man roster for the upcoming five matches. The group then departs for Jacksonville, Fla., in preparation for the match on May 26 against Scotland (7 pm CT, NBC Sports Network)

The Shin Guardian notes that Landon Donovan and Terence Boyd are also on the list and offers his list of who might grab the remaining 11 spots. What do you think?

The team is preparing for its busiest stretch of the year, extending from the middle of May to early June and encompassing a 30-day schedule with five games during an 18-day period. If that schedule looks a lot like what the U.S. encounters to prepare for and play in a big tournament, there’s a reason: U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann designed it that way.

The Pioneer’s opened the scoring on Tuesday via a set piece. A flip-throw by sophomore Kacy Jacobs was flicked up and over the defense where Brigid McInerney was able to run onto it and head it into the roof of the net at the back post. The goal was scored in the 35th minute and the Pioneers worked hard to get a second but the Angel’s were able to hold them off.

PHOTO GALLERY – St Joseph vs Kirkwood and KSDK Highlight Video

The Angel’s tied the game via a familiar face. Senior Michelle Schwarz scored in the 45th minute when freshman Anna Martin sent her down the left side. Schwarz’s shot from the left side of the box floated over the keeper’s head and into the far side netting.

Martin (pictured above) got the game-winner four minutes later following a corner kick. The ball was headed out and Martin’s volley from the top of the box went just inside the left upright. See my video of the goal here. Schwarz scored her second goal of the game in the 78th for the final margin.

Nerinx went down 0-1 to Webster Groves with 20 minutes remaining tonight before battling back with a late equalizer, getting a golden goal from Lauren Holder in the 3rd minute of overtime to advance to the District Final. See it below.

Nerinx was thus responsible for the Statesmen’s first loss of the season and it’s last in a record-setting year for the program.

PHOTO GALLERY – Nerinx Hall vs Webster Groves and KSDK Highlight Video

The Statesmen came out well-prepared to face the top-ranked squad in the State and it was freshman Maddie Pokorny who set the tone for the upstarts. Her goal in the 60th minute was masterful, picking up a loose ball in the offensive end, she went straight at the Marker defense and weaved past at least one challenge before slotting her shot to the far side beyond the keeper’s reach.

Much like a football game and it’s two-minute drills, the goal could have come too soon for the Statesmen. It got the Marker’s attention and focused them on the result needed. The tying-goal, five minutes later, was worthy of a Blue’s game, when Holder made a run down the right side before cutting into the middle. Her cross into the box was redirected by Mary Devereux just before her defender arrived, sliding into the net as the keeper was caught moving in the opposite direction. See the goal here.

While Webster Groves worked hard, the Marker’s amped up offense kept coming at them. Goalkeeper Jessica Perry had kept Nerinx off the scoreboard with some heroic saves early in the game (KSDK video) and she matched that now, including one just moments before the game-winner. It was a remarkable performance by the Statesmen, one I hope to revisit later when the schedule slows down.

Via UEFA.com – The Netherlands and Germany go head-to-head in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final for the third time in four editions, with the former hoping to retain the title they lifted last year and the latter hunting revenge.

At least that is how this contest is being billed. In reality it is a rather different story, as both coaches and captains attending the final press conference in their Ljubljana hotel were keen to quash any such suggestions.

Wednesday May 16, 11:00 am – UEFA U-17 Final GERMANY-NETHERLANDS (live) GolTV

The statistics point to the game being a tight affair, with only one goal conceded between the finalists throughout the competition. Stuivenberg stressed that neither side goes into the match as favourites. “We have focused on this game as we would any other, but it is an unpredictable game,” he said. “Anything can happen in football. Tomorrow, who knows? And that’s a great thing.” READ MORE