New Heights Christian Academy, formerly College Heights Christian School, hadn’t reached the final four in the state soccer tournament for 20 years.
The Cougars and head coach Aaron Dogotch have taken the program back there and they’re looking to do more than just arrive in St. Charles on Wednesday as one of the top four soccer teams in Missouri.
“It feels surreal. It’s a bit of a ‘Why us? Why now?’ I mean, I get it. We’re a talented team and we’ve overcome some obstacles, but there’s been other teams like that,” Dogotch said. “We’re just grateful to be a part of it.”
“It’s super exciting. It’s kind of surreal,” senior midfielder/striker Hudson Clevenger said.
“Every team we’ve lost to (prior to 2024) in the playoffs has gone on and gotten at least fourth place,” senior midfielder/striker Michael Parrigon said. “Now it’s our turn to go do it.”
But their goal is to go and accomplish more than fourth place.
“Oh, heck yeah,” Dogotch said.
NHCA joins St. Pius X (Kansas City), Missouri Military Academy and New Heights’ semifinal opponent, Valley Park. Of the four teams, New Heights has the lowest winning percentage of .520. St. Pius’ win percentage is .648 (17-9-1). MMA has a win percentage of .800 (16-4). Valley Park is sporting an .884 win percentage (23-3).
‘Chip on our shoulder’
“I think we’d like to take first. … Our first opponent looks really good on paper, and if my memory serves me right, I think they just haven’t played a lot of big schools,” NHCA’s second-year head coach said. “Our record looks like trash, and we look like we’re coming from the sticks. I think it would be fun to take that chip on our shoulder and go down there and get in the championship.”
Dogotch is correct. Valley Park has played a schedule consisting almost exclusively of Class 1 and Class 2 schools. It played one Class 3 school in Festus, which finished the year 5-16 and was eliminated in the first round of district playoffs.
Most of the Hawks’ wins over Class 2 schools were ones with a losing record during the 2024 season.
In terms of the other two schools, the Colonels of Missouri Military Academy faced just two Class 3 schools and one from Class 4. The Warriors from St. Pius faced three opponents from Class 3 and two from Class 4.
The Cougars started the year 0-7 but had a forfeited loss to Class 2 Monett in there as well as losing to three Class 4 schools and two Class 3 schools in the rough start. There was a loss to Class 2 Logan-Rogersville, which is in the semifinals of the Class 2 state tournament right now.
“When we play a Class 4 team, they replace seniors with juniors or juniors with seniors off the bench,” Dogotch said. “We started with freshmen on the pitch. It’s a little overwhelming for them. … But now they’re able to hang, even against the best in Class 1.”
Those key freshmen pieces are starters Nixon Maningas and Brandon Schumacher. A key sophomore is Cason Hamlin.
Parrigon talked about the importance of having those underclassmen alongside himself and the other veteran leaders on the team.
“Beginning of the year, freshmen are obviously going to have a little bit of nerves. But throughout the year they’ve gotten better and better and better. They’ve improved a bunch,” Parrigon said. “Us starting the year 0-6 and now being 13-12, they played a big part in that.”
Clevenger added that during that rough start to the season, he, Parrigon and other leaders had to be sure and remind them that the team was not bad. It was just going up against tough competition and things would change eventually.
The Cougars were 2-10 when the calendar turned to October and had not found themselves yet. They rattled off four straight wins from Oct. 8-15 to improve to 6-11.
Then they closed the regular season with another four-game streak from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31. That win on Halloween was a big confidence boost. The team record was up to 10-12, but it was more about the team it defeated. New Heights ended the regular season with a 1-0 win over Class 3 Hillcrest.
“It was pivotal for us because you could tell we snapped out of it mentally,” Dogotch said. “I don’t think we lacked in skill. I think we just had this mental thing that hadn’t clicked over and now we have a different mentality.”
“That was super encouraging for our team,” Clevenger said.
“It made it click that we can do this,” Parrigon added.
The Cougars are meeting the Hawks of Valley Park at 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Charles for the semifinal game at Lindenwood University’s Hunter Stadium.
The last three trips to the final four ended in fourth-place finishes. A strong offensive team will look to change that trend.
They’re led offensively by Parrigon and Clevenger. Parrigon notched 32 goals in 21 games and 20 assists to add to the offensive effort. He missed some games as a dual-sport athlete in the fall running cross country as well.
Clevenger scored 26 goals in 25 games and registered 23 assists.
“It’s a team sport. We’re the ones who end up with all the goals, but it doesn’t mean that all the other guys aren’t contributing,” Clevenger said.
Some of those other key contributors have been Liam Nelson with 14 goals, Ben Schumacher with 10 and 20 assists.
“We have some others that maybe aren’t as skilled as those two (Parrigon and Clevenger) that, if they’re left alone, they’ll burn you,” Dogotch added.
He also noted that Sacred Heart probably had its eyes on Clevenger before Saturday’s game because of his hat trick in the district title game against Greenwood.
But then, it had to deal with Parrigon delivering the hat trick in the state quarterfinal matchup.
“It’s nice to have that monster. … (Teammates) open up that space and those two guys (Parrigon and Clevenger) don’t need much space,” Dogotch said.
Another key sophomore is goalie Rush Stewart. His competitive nature has driven him to success late in the year.
“The mental toughness that he has … to go back out there and work when you feel like you’ve let your team down, and he hasn’t, but he takes it personal when a goal is scored,” Dogotch said.
Stewart has played “flawless” in the last seven games, Dogotch added. The Cougars are in the midst of a seven-game win streak now and look to extend it to eight Wednesday morning.
New Heights is seeking that first state title in school history. More importantly, there’s one thing the team wants to make sure and do.
“I press home that we’re doing this because we want to honor our savior in Jesus Christ. We get to give 100%, it doesn’t matter, win or lose. They’re giving 100% and we’re winning right now, so it’s a lot of fun,” Dogotch added.
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