Nerinx Hall Soccer Rides Emotion to Win Over Eureka

Senior Day is always very emotional at . This was particularly the case with Tuesday night’s celebration in the Markers’ match against Eureka, which Nerinx won 1-0 in a thriller.

The students, staff, and families at Nerinx are a close-knit group. So it’s always a teary day when any of the Markers play their last home games as seniors, as occurred against Eureka. However, this game was a bit more emotional than previous others. It marked the final home game for one of Nerinx’s most popular players, senior Caitie Dierkes, who suffered a devastating knee injury back in January and wasn’t able to play this season.

The Markers dedicated the season to Dierkes and have played every game like they wanted to win it just for her.

So it was with bunches of hugs and buckets of tears that the Nerinx soccer family said goodbye to Dierkes, and the four other Markers seniors.

“I’ll admit it, I’m a big wimp,” Nerinx head coach Brian Haddock said. “I love these girls so much. And they’ve all grown so much, and been through so much, that I cried maybe more than any of them. I mostly got goosebumps from today, but I cried a lot, too.”

And it was behind that emotion that Nerinx somehow withstood a relentless first half of pressure from the visiting Wildcats, then somehow made the one play that mattered in the second half that brought on even more tears of happiness.

“It really comes down to one word with this team—resiliency,” Haddock said. “These girls don’t quit. I think they learned that from Caitie. And even when we sub girls off the bench, we don’t lose a whole lot, and sometimes they give us more.”

That was exactly the case on Tuesday, when midway through the second half Nerinx’s Lauren Holder made a brilliant play to break through the Eureka defense and fire a point-blank shot on goal.

Wildcat goalkeeper Ali Wallner was there though, and made an equally fantastic play to deflect the blast away.  

But on what sure seemed like a day meant for the Markers, part-time starter Hayley Bokern stayed with the play, and was able to bang home the rebound for her third goal of the season, and a 1-0 lead.

“Hayley did a really good thing, which you teach kids when they’re two years old,” Haddock said, “which is follow every shot up. Don’t just stop in your tracks because a shot is taken, but follow the play. And Hayley did that, and got an open-net shot.”

From that point on, Eureka went all out to try to tie the score, generating numerous chances, but was unable to convert any of them.

The Wildcats’ best chance actually came in the final 10 seconds of the game, when senior Torie Goode sent a right-to-left pass across the goalmouth and found sophomore teammate Courtney Silberberg streaking towards the net.

But Silberberg’s right-footed shot veered slightly left and sailed wide of the Nerinx net. The clock ran out after that play to clinch the victory for Nerinx.

“We should’ve won,” Eureka coach Bill Goggin said. “We had the ball in their end the whole first half, and a lot of the second half, too. But we started getting tired, and three mistakes—boom, boom, boom, and it was in our goal.”

It was certainly a tough way to end the regular season for Eureka (10-6), which will begin district play next Wednesday.

Nerinx (15-6) will play its regular-season finale on Wednesday at 4 p.m. when it travels to Frontenac to play archrival St. Joseph’s Academy.

District play will begin for the Markers on Saturday, when they’ll play Ladue at noon at Webster Groves High.

Nerinx, if they win, will then face Ursuline Academy on Tuesday, May 17 in the district semifinals, with the winner advancing to the district championship game on May 19.