The Park Hill South boys soccer team is marching to St. Louis for the State Final Four after sophomore midfielder Nico Pastorino scored on a last-gasp push forward in the State Quarterfinal on Nov. 15 against Blue Springs South.
The score was level at 1-1, and it appeared the match was headed to a penalty shootout for a trip to the Final Four. It had been about 55 minutes since the last goal, which was Blue Springs South’s equalizer in regulation.
With the clock ticking under 30 seconds in the second overtime, junior midfielder Nick Parra drove a free kick from just inside the Panthers’ attacking half, hoping to find the head of one of seven Panther players near the box. The target was not hit, but it was still in the mixer as a back-pedaling Jaguar defender could only redirect the ball from his head towards a central position outside the top of the box.
From there, the Panthers kept the ball alive and Will Bowne eventually collected it from a tight angle on the right side. After touching the ball closer to the end line, Bowne squared it across the goal for Micah Wright, who had his shot saved off the line by a sliding defender.
“My heart sank, but my head went straight to thinking about my PK taker list, which I had made earlier,” Park Hill South head coach Chris Farmer said of the final sequence. “Then I see Nico Pastorino in the right spot, and the right time, and it was slow motion — the shot, the defender’s outstretched leg just out of reach of the ball and then the ball slicing into the side netting. It was surreal. I literally dropped to my knees for a second, then gave my assistant coach a big hug.”
Following the save on Wright’s shot, the ball remained alive, popping directly to Pastorino from six yards out. The sophomore had no hesitation in pulling the trigger, using the instep of his right foot to roll a composed shot inside the left corner of the goal with eight seconds to spare.
Nico Pastorino scored with just 8 seconds left in double overtime to send Park Hill South to State for the second time in three years.
Pastorino’s one-touch half-volley was the moment that punched Park Hill South’s ticket to St. Louis as the sudden-death golden goal. The Panthers ran back towards midfield, where they were met by a mob of jubilant fans to celebrate their victory.
Park Hill South had nearly found the game-winner in the first overtime period, but a shot clanked off the post from about 10 yards out. The Panthers could feel a goal coming Farmer credited Blue Springs South for the way they came out to open the game, admitting his team was outplayed in the first half. They could have been down 2-0 inside the first 10 minutes of the game with the Jaguars creating a chance that just missed just wide and another that hit the post.
Park Hill South had originally taken the lead in the second half of regulation, when left back Noah Stephens ventured forward down the left side. The senior ripped a shot from well outside the box, catching the goalkeeper off guard as he bounced the ball off the turf before hitting the back of the net in the far corner.
“We had been telling Noah to get involved in the attack,” Farmer said. “He has a thunderous left-footed shot & we wanted him to test the keeper. He had a lot of space in front of him, so we kept telling him to take the space and hit the shot, and he did.”
Blue Springs South found the equalizer shortly after. The Panthers nearly found another go-ahead goal in regulation, but the Panthers had a left-footed strike saved before a header from just outside the six-yard box missed the frame as the match was sent to overtime.
Pastorino’s strike was his fourth goal of the season, one he will remember for a long time to come as he makes his first trip to the State Final Four alongside five other sophomores. Park Hill South marches on led by a group of eight seniors who will have two guaranteed matches left wearing their school colors.
The Panthers, most recently ranked No. 29 in the state on Oct. 31, return to St. Louis for the Final Four for the second time in three years. They previously finished runner-up in 2023 after losing to Rockhurst — who was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time — in the state championship after conceding in the final seconds.
Two years later, Park Hill South will have a rematch in the semifinals in St. Louis against Rockhurst, which is undefeated again while maintaining the No. 1 ranking in the state and No. 6 in the nation.
In their previous match this season, Rockhurst defeated Park Hill South 4-0 on Sept. 27. The Panthers have lost six consecutive matches against the Hawklets, last beating them in 2018.
Park Hill South heads into the Final Four on a six-game winning streak, losing just once in their last 10 matches. That will be put to the test in their semifinal slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.
“When playing Rockhurst, a big part of the battle is approaching the game with the right mindset,” Farmer said. “Our players believe in what we are doing and they will be ready to go on Friday night. We are excited for the opportunity. We tell our boys all the time, pressure is a privilege.”
The winner between Park Hill South and Rockhurst will face the winner of No. 2-ranked SLUH and No. 9-ranked Ft. Zumwalt West on Saturday at 7 p.m. The losers of both matches will meet for the third-place game at 5 p.m. on Saturday.