Boys soccer playoffs: Maeser run shuts down St. Joseph in late minutes of 2A semifinal
Jayhawks close season 9-5 after region bout at state
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- Maeser Prep’s Jack Stevenson (16) and St. Joseph’s Brock Smith (10) battle for possession during the 2A state semifinals on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Herriman.
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- The St. Joseph boys soccer team consoles one another following a 3-2 loss versus Maeser in the 2A state semifinals on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Herriman.
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- St. Joseph’s Alex Hernandez (7) sends the ball past Maeser Prep’s Seth Johnson (20) during the 2A state semifinals on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Herriman.
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- St. Joseph’s Alex Hernandez (7) dribbles around Maeser Prep’s Nathan Bowler (11) during the 2A state semifinals on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Herriman.
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- Maeser Prep’s Jack Stevenson speaks with an official during the 2A state semifinals versus St. Joseph on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Herriman.
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- St. Joseph goalkeeper Felipe Uribe watches from the goal during the 2A state semifinals versus Maeser Prep on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Herriman.
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- St. Joseph’s Sebastian Fiederer spends a moment following a 3-2 loss to Maeser Prep during the 2A state semifinals on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Herriman.
HERRIMAN — A thin roster didn’t keep St. Joseph out of the playoffs, and it certainly wasn’t going to keep them from giving top seed Maeser Prep everything they could handle during a 3-2, season-ending loss in the 2A state semifinals on Thursday.
Shut out 7-0 against Maeser in the regular-season finale, the No. 4 Jayhawks, ending their campaign 9-5 and fourth in Region 2A North, clawed their way into a sixth consecutive semifinal round with a region foe in the Lions (17-3).
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, St. Joseph evened things up courtesy of junior Alex Hernandez, scoring the Jayhawks’ first goal with 26 minutes left. But Maeser’s Anthony Brunk and Jack Stevenson rattled off two late goals just a few minutes apart to lead 3-1.
Hernandez scored on a penalty kick after Stevenson’s goal with just 22 seconds remaining. By then, however, the damage was done.
“To do what we did and get as far as we did with 14 players, I’m proud of them,” St. Joseph coach David Newman said. “(Maeser) must’ve made 52 subs today, and we made two because we had dead players on the field. Where we’ve come from and the effort they’ve put in, you can’t fault them.”
Newman welcomed just 11 kids to the first day of tryouts this season, ending up with 14 rostered players by the second week. With no returning goalkeeper and a vacant back line, St. Joseph opened the season with several first-time position players.
Forwards became midfielders, midfielders became defenders, and senior Felipe Uribe found himself tabbed as the Jayhawks’ goalkeeper. St. Joseph, seemingly improvising with a 0-2 start, won its next seven matches to begin the regular season.
Among that group was just one senior, Daniel Argolo Fontes Filho. While exiting the stadium to meet his father, flying in from Brazil for Argolo Fontes Filho’s graduation, the senior Jayhawk shared just how meaningful their story was to his senior year.
“I’d say it’s like a family,” Argolo Fontes Filho said. “We get to practice every day together, we laugh together, we cry together when we lose. I think we learned a lot with each other being such a small group. It was a challenge, but we’re always backing each other up. It was a really good team to be around, man.”
Newman and St. Joseph can expect a quality returning roster in 2026, as well as the motor worthy of another state run.
“When it’s game day, a lot of them find an extra gear,” Newman said. “They find the ability to run a little bit further and, honestly, I don’t know how they’ve done it.”
Connect with sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
