Ava Leiniger remembers when Southern Boone girls soccer won a district championship in 2022, defeating Tolton 2-0 in the Class 2, District 6 final. She remembers the excitement of advancing to the state tournament and the opportunity to have another week of practice and competing with her teammates.
“I remember being super excited,” Leiniger said. “I had a lot of fun teammates around me that made me enjoy the moment more; it was just super special.”
That was three years ago. Leiniger was a freshman, and it capped off a run of five consecutive district titles. The momentum slowed a bit in 2023 and 2024. While Southern Boone won 18 and 20 games between those two seasons, the program didn’t capture a district crown.
But, 2025 is different for the Eagles (19-4). After a 7-4 start, Southern Boone has won 12 straight contests. In the Class 2, District 6 Tournament, the No. 1-seeded Eagles defeated California and Osage by a combined score of 18-1. In the district title game, Southern Boone beat Tolton 2-0 in Osage Beach.
“I loved our ability to play together,” Southern Boone head coach Wade Vandelicht said. “Not just necessarily passing the ball, but passing with a purpose. We’re making runs off the ball, making defenses move and open up space, and just the ability to finish when we get down in the box.”
Southern Boone’s six seniors ― Leiniger, Allie Scheer, Baylee Feeback, Julianne Long, Sofia Wiley and Zoey Davis ― saw the team’s last district title and were fueled to make sure they didn’t finish their high school careers without one.
“They wanted one for themselves,” Vandelicht said. “Mentally, they are really sound on knowing that their career is getting short and trying to relay to the underclassmen that, hey, it’s now or never. …They go at it hard without any regrets.”
Offensively, the Eagles have been a juggernaut. The Eagles average six goals per game and have tallied eight or more in 12 of 23 contests. Leiniger has been at the forefront of Southern Boone’s success on offense.
During the team’s win over California in the district quarterfinals, Leiniger collected her 100th career goal to put the Eagles up 9-0 with eight minutes left in the first half.
“About two and a half weeks ago, I found out I was at 88 with six games left,” Leiniger said. “I didn’t know if it was reachable or not, but I ended up getting it my first game of districts, which was super exciting, and it definitely was reachable because now I’m at 102.”
But it doesn’t stop there for Southern Boone. Scheer and sophomore Lillian Brooks have been key for the Eagles. Brooks scored five goals in the team’s victory over Osage, while Scheer collected both of the team’s goals in their 2-0 win against Tolton.
“All of us getting along and communicating and knowing where each other usually tends to go definitely helps,” Leiniger said. “As well as after shots are taken, making sure to crash the goalie, which we did in our district championship game; that’s how we scored our two goals.”
Anyone of the team’s forwards can score at any time, and every opponent has to be able to defend the entire team.
“The greatest thing is that we have a true team of forwards this year,” Vandelicht said. “We have three people that score an enormous amount of goals, and that’s by accident. They’re working together …when a team looks at us, they can’t see one person that they can shut down and win the game.”
The quest to advance to the Class 2 Final Four continues for the Eagles on Saturday, May 31. The team will travel to Rogersville to play Logan-Rogersville (14-6). Southern Boone played the Wildcats in 2024, losing 2-1, but the team feels it matches up well heading into the Class 2 Quarterfinals.
“Our formation suits well to what they play, Vandelicht said. “I look forward for our forwards to have some opportunities. It’s going to come down to if we put them in and if we defend like we did against Tolton in the championship.”
Southern Boone will play Logan-Rogersville at 3:00 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Southern Boone girls soccer is back in the Class 2 state tournament