Crusaders Head to Elite Eight

 goalkeeper Travis Abt likes variety when it comes to his uniform top.   

"Being a senior, I wanted to wear a different color every game," he said. "I'm not superstitious or anything. I just thought it would be something fun to do."    

The man of many colors brought out a dark blue shirt for Tuesday's Class 2 sectional game against Moberly.     

It worked.    

The Spartans left Crusader Stadium feeling blue as Abt posted his second successive post-season shutout to lead St. Dominic to a 2-0 win.    

The victory sends the Crusaders (16-9-1) into the Final Eight where they will likely take on unbeaten Priory on Saturday with a berth in the state tournament at stake.    

Sophomore Dominic Recca and senior Daniel McAteer scored for the winners, who won their fifth match in a row. Abt posed his sixth solo shutout and eighth overall. He has allowed just one goal in 251 playoff minutes including a 1-0 overtime shutout of rival Duchesne in the district championship contest on Thursday.    

Abt has kept his color scheme in order as well. He wore a bright, "traffic cone," orange top in the win over Duchesne.    

"I've got green, I've got orange, blue, baby blue, white, red, navy," he said. "'Got them all."    

Goalies are allowed to wear any color they wish as long as it stands out from the color of the opposing team.   

Abt, who has allowed just 18 goals in 1,547 minutes this season, made a pair of saves in the first half on Tuesday to keep the match scoreless. The Crusaders then took over in the second half dominating play over the final 40 minutes.    Recca scored in the 33rd minute off a nifty pass from sophomore Jeffrey Etter. McAteer converted on a well-placed corner kick by Stephen Koeller with just under nine minutes left in the match.   

St. Dominic Coach Greg Koeller was pleased with the business-like performance of his squad.   

"I thought we pretty much had the game in control," he said. "We started a little slow, but they did pretty well. It was a good effort."   

The Crusaders' defense threw a blanket over the Moberly (20-7) attack the entire night. Alexander Brown and Brett Vogel joined Etter and McAteer in helping make life easy for Abt.   

"Fortunately my defense, all 10 guys in front of me, were able to stop them and hold them in check," Abt said. "The credit goes to them."   

Recca broke open a scoreless tie with a hard shot hat eluded Moberly keeper Bridger Pretz, who made several fine saves in each half. Etter sent a perfect ball into the middle of the box. Recca made no mistake in scoring his second goal of the season.   

"(Etter) played a ball in from 30 (yards out) and I touched it with my right foot," Recca said. "The goalie was coming out and I put it in the left corner."   

The St. Dominic front line had a host of scoring chances late in the first half and throughout the second. Stephen Koeller, Mark Steiniger, Conor Baker, Alexander Imperiale and Collin Wynn all came close.   

McAteer put the match away in the 71st minute. He scored his second goal of the season off a corner kick from Stephen Koeller, who sent the ball to the far end of the box.   

St. Dominic, which hit a pair of goal posts in the contest, has outscored its opponents 15-3 during the five-game run.   

Still, the Crusaders realize they will have to step up their game in order to reach the state tournament.   

"We've got to make the most of our opportunities and finish," said Recca. "That's going to be the key."