CAMERON, Mo. — St. Pius X’s Hilary Torres stepped up to the spot with Wednesday’s Class 1 district championship on the line.

And the junior embraced the moment, slotting the penalty into the left side of the net late in the first half to give the Warriors a 1-0 victory over Bishop LeBlond.

After what seemed to be a questionable tripping call in front of the Golden Eagles goal during the 37th minute, the referee awarded a penalty to the Warriors (14-7-1). St. Pius coach Todd Ashby called upon Torres to deliver for his team, and Ashby had good reason for his pick.

Torres was coming off of a three-goal performance in the previous semifinal game when the Warriors downed Maryville, 3-1.

“I was so nervous. You have no idea,” Torres said. “All I was thinking was, ‘Please don’t miss it.’”

Sophomore goalie Jacquelyn Warner of the Eagles notched 14 saves and held the Warriors scoreless for the first 37 minutes of the contest.

After a LeBlond defender tripped Alex Wheeler, Torres started out the penalty on the right side only to fool Warner when she kicked it down the left side of the goal. Warner had 19 saves as LeBlond spent most of the contest defending.

The Eagles mustered just two shots on goal.

“Jacquelyn turned a corner this year,” Eagles coach Ken Girard said. “She started out as a decent goalkeeper, and she has become, over the course of this season, a great goalkeeper.”

“I am tickled to death to have (Warner) around for two more years”

The Warriors evened up the series with the Eagles after LeBlond won 2-1 in the regular season. With the victory the Warriors advance to the sectionals in Excelsior Springs, Mo., on May 28.

“Regular-season games are always a little different then postseason games,” Ashby said. “Sometimes you just get lucky, and we fortunately got lucky and won today.”

The Eagles finish the season 12-11.

Sports reporter Travis Hartman can be reached at npsports@npgco.com