Park Hill celebrates a goal in their 6-0 rout of Liberty.
The trajectory of the Park Hill girls soccer team has completely flipped under head coach Jason Pendleton over the past two years, as the Trojans have gone undefeated in conference play this season to win a second straight conference championship for the first time since 2016.
Park Hill proved to be the class of the Greater KC Red Division, where they conceded just one goal while going 10-0 in conference play.
“It’s hard to win anything,” Pendleton said. “For us to get back-to-back conference titles, and to finish this one this year undefeated in conference is a big deal because winning’s hard. They’ve worked really hard with some tough games, so it feels good.”
The Trojans locked up the conference title on May 12, when they completed a second consecutive regular-season sweep of Park Hill South. Maryn Hudson’s header inside the opening 10 minutes was all the offense Park Hill needed to keep another shutout against their district rivals, extending their streak to 320 minutes without conceding a goal to South over the past two seasons.
Park Hill sophomore Avery Dec scored and assisted in the Trojans’ conference finale against Liberty.
Maryn Hudson was among the scorers once again in Park Hill’s 6-0 triumph over Liberty on May 14, scoring her 15th goal of the season in the second half. Freshman Hayes Hudson added two goals while Avery Dec, Gabrielle Gernigin and Zahria Holbrook also added scores.
After conceding just twice in conference play last season, they have improved upon that with just a single goal conceded this year. The only goal Park Hill allowed in conference play came on April 30 in a 2-1 victory over North Kansas City.
The Trojans have conceded a total of four goals all season long, posting a record of 13-2 in the regular season.
“It’s been our emphasis from day one,” Pendleton said. “We defend collectively as a group. I’ve done this a long time and I tend to focus more on the defensive side than the attacking side.
The theory is ‘if you don’t give up goals, you don’t lose very often.’ The girls have bought into it and not only worked physically hard, but worked really hard to organize.”
It is a much different path than Park Hill was on just a couple of years ago. They went 16-40 in the three consecutive losing seasons before Pendleton’s appointment as head coach.
As of May 16, the Trojans have tallied a record of 31-4 in two seasons under Pendleton’s leadership. While the change was dramatic and immediate, it all started with stabilizing the defense.
“We always had a good group of girls, but we never had a coach combine us all together (until Pendleton),” said senior defender Alyssa Estanich, who has played on the varsity squad since before Pendleton arrived. “The structure he puts in our defense is amazing. That’s what really flipped us around, and we’ve just had other people step up when we lost people.”
Leading that defense the past two years have been three critical pieces: Estanich, Kiley Cato and Elise Zeller. Estanich and Cato have provided stability in the heart of Park Hill’s defense, and while central defenders are often used as the targets in attacking set pieces, they have been utilized as corner kick takers for a team that has been highly efficient from set pieces.
Estanich, Park Hill’s right center back, praised her partnership with left center back Cato, and the abilities of Zeller. The Trojans’ outside backs are also key pieces in tracking down players up and down the pitch all game long.
Alyssa Estanich was named the conference’s defender of the year last season as a junior.
“I think we’re very connected together,” Estanich said. “We work very well together. Everyone trusts each other in the back.”
Zeller was Park Hill’s starting goalkeeper her freshman year last season, providing her efforts to cover up any errors in a strong Park Hill defense. In two seasons, she has helped Park Hill keep 27 clean sheets, with freshman Lyra Stout helping out this season as well.
While much of the credit can be given to the defensive side, Park Hill’s greatest growth from last year to this year has been on the attacking front. Park Hill’s offensive production has skyrocketed with an average of 3.9 goals per game, scoring 62 goals this year after scoring 42 times last year.
The Trojans have shown the ability to put teams away, winning 11 games by multiple goals and mercy-ruling opponents twice this year while none last year. The Trojan offense, led by Maryn Hudson and Cohara, has become more well-rounded with an ability to score from the run of play, an area of struggle all of last season.
“We’re feeling really good about a lot of what we do, but I’m always somebody who’s looking to see what we can do better,” Pendleton said. “And there are areas definitely where we could improve.”
Park Hill opened the district tournament with an 8-0 victory over St. Joseph Central. Maryn Hudson added a hat trick to bring her season tally to 18, with Myer Cohara scoring twice and the trio of Gernigin, Dec and Cato each scoring once.
“We’re playing really good,” Estanich said. “Putting a lot of goals in the back of the net. We’re doing a really great job creating, and that is really important heading into postseason because we need to finish the opportunities we get in the postseason.”
Park Hill’s next test is a district semifinal against No. 3-seeded Park Hill South on Wednesday, May 20, at 7 p.m. at the Park Hill District Soccer Field. The winner advances to the district championship on Friday, May 22, against the winner of top-seeded Liberty North and No. 5 Staley.
“Winning is hard in the playoffs,” Pendleton said. “I don’t take anything for granted.”
The Trojans would relish another shot in the district championship, where they fell to Liberty North last year. Liberty North, ranked No. 9 in the state, also handed Park Hill its first loss in a penalty kick shootout in the season-opener on March 24.
“In my four years here, I haven’t been able to win districts yet,” Estanich said. “We got into the finals last year, but I want to make it out and hopefully go to state.”