Pirates lose 2-1 to Warrenton for quick finish to Districts

It was one-and-done for the Hannibal Pirates’ boys’ soccer team Saturday morning when they lost 2-1 to Warrenton in the first round of the District tournament.
Hannibal head coach Eric Hill said the game came down to the quality of the shots on goal.
“We played a really good game,” Hill said. “But, when they had their opportunities, they had a couple of really solid opportunities [with a high percentage of success].”
Much of the first half was spent with zeros occupying both the home and away spots. But, with 58 seconds left in the front 40, Hannibal allowed the first goal of the game.
That deficit would not last long. Just four minutes after the start of the second half, Aaron White came up with a big goal to knot the game up at 1-1.
“Aaron won the ball at midfield and beat the defender,” Hill said. “Then, the keeper was coming out and [White] slid the ball by him, too.
The goal did more than just put the Pirates back into the contest, Hill said. It also showed a progression from the beginning to the end of the season for the young team.
“Something that we would have problems with all year long was that a team would get a goal on us and heads would start hanging,” Hill said. “More often than not, they would get goals in bunches after that. But, we kept playing well.”
Still, there were other areas that showed need for improvement. Warrenton scored its second goal in the 63rd minute, leaving the Pirates down again. It wasn’t until the waning minutes left that the black and red went all out, Hill said. He went on to say that while he was happy to see the intensity, it seemed like it was too little, too late.
“We had several opportunities late in the game,” Hill said. “That’s another thing that we dealt with this season. If we were down by one late, then they would pick up the pace and you could see a change in pace. It’s just frustrating that we couldn’t have that pace throughout the whole game.”
The Pirates finish the season at 10-14-1, which Hill said was his first losing season as head coach for the boys’ team. Despite the losing record, Hill said he hopes there are valuable aspects of the season that his team can use for next year.
“Honestly, for everybody, it was a long and trying season,” Hill said. “We are a team that was better than our final record indicated. We are so young and inexperienced in places that we knew that we were going to get better as the year went on. I definitely think that was the case.”