With the ball sailing toward the goal, Casey Parker-Karst slipped by the final marker and blasted a shot that drew his team even with Brother Martin in the Division I state championship.
Less than five minutes later, with a defender still between him and the goal, the Jesuit junior dribbled right and smashed another shot that curved inside the far post, giving his team its first lead.
The lead held, and Parker-Karst’s two goals made the difference in Jesuit’s 2-1 victory that secured the school’s 14th state championship before a raucous crowd Saturday at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond.
“I knew we needed something,” Parker-Karst said about the first goal. “I just had to take a risk and go for the ball. It worked out, thankfully.”
Both goals came within the first 10 minutes after halftime — following what Jesuit coach Hubie Collins felt was a lackluster first half.
“We just felt we were getting second to the ball and we were getting moved off the ball a little too easy and too softly,” Collins said. “We said we had to match their fire with fire, and that’s what we did. It was great to see the turning of the game in that regard.”
Parker-Karst has been Jesuit’s big-game scorer in recent weeks, notching two goals each in a district-clinching win against Brother Martin and in last week’s semifinal against Baton Rouge High.
“He just emulates what he does at practice and brings it to the big stage,” Collins said. “When we needed him to step up and do it tonight, he was able to do it.”
Brother Martin’s last-ditch effort at an equalizer included Nathan Wellman’s breakaway that ended with goalie Vance Andry’s sliding save. The ball got kicked into Andry’s right leg as he fell to the turf, and with Wellman unable to kick it free, Jesuit defender Ford Frischhertz cleared it into the open field.
Earlier chances for Brother Martin included a header over the crossbar and a free kick that hit off the football goalposts behind the goal frame.
Brother Martin opened the scoring 15 minutes into the contest when Everett Walker pounded in a rebound off Andry’s diving save of a shot by Wyatt Hutchins.
“I thought we matched their intensity, but we gave them a couple gifts,” Brother Martin coach Matt Millet said. “Against a good team, they’re going to make you pay, and that’s how it was.”
Jesuit (21-0-1) ran its unbeaten streak against Brother Martin (22-4-1) to nine matches (eight wins, one tie). For Brother Martin, Millet ended his second season at the school with the Crusaders in the finals for the first time since 2002.