TOWN AND COUNTRY — DeSmet junior Mike Klingler saw the opening and decided to "give it a go.'' And with one swing of his left foot, Klingler hit a perfectly placed 35-yard blast into the upper-right corner, lifting the Spartans to a 1-0 overtime victory over CBC in the Class 3 District 5 championship game Wednesday night at CBC.

DeSmet's Mike Andres started the deciding sequence with a long throw-in to the CBC penalty area. The ball was headed out to Klingler, who picked the perfect time to score his first varsity goal.

"I saw that I had some time and figured I might as well give it a go,'' Klingler said. "It felt great off my foot and when I looked up, all I saw was the ball going straight for the corner.

'' With the victory, DeSmet, ranked fifth among Post-Dispatch large schools, improved to 14-7-1 and advanced to take on the District 6 champion — top-ranked SLUH hosts No. 6 Chaminade in that title game tonight at 6 — in the sectionals Tuesday at Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton. Second-ranked CBC finished 23-5.

Klingler's goal came with just under five minutes to play in the first 15-minute overtime and ended a game that was contested mainly in the midfield. "It was a great goal to win a game, that's for sure,'' CBC coach Terry Michler said.

"It came down to one play, and they made it. Give DeSmet credit. They played us tough all night and held it together when we were able to apply some pressure.''

A year ago, DeSmet won in similar fashion to knock off Chaminade for the district championship. But this team, without a standout like Will Bruin, gets by on grit and hard work.

"A few weeks back, we dropped one-goal games to SLUH, CBC and Vianney and in each of those games, we made one mistake and that's what beat us,'' DeSmet coach Greg Vitello said. "But tonight, we didn't make that mistake. Our guys just kept working and playing together and ended up beating a great team.'' Each team had its moments in a game that lacked many clear-cut scoring chances.

Before the goal, DeSmet's best chance came earlier in the overtime as a quick shot from Kyle Menges was pushed wide by CBC keeper Drew Duncan. The Cadets had a lot of possession in the match and came on strong late in regulation, but DeSmet keeper Ben Kremer and his backfield did what was needed to keep CBC from getting any real chances. In other district finals played Wednesday....

St. Mary's 2, Lutheran South 0 _ The top-seeded Dragons, ranked sixth among area small schools, received second-half goals from Phil Gangloff and Ben Julius and a shutout from John Berner, winning the Class 2 District 2 title over the host Lancers.

St. Mary's (18-7-1) will play the District 1 champion in quarterfinal action Nov. 11 at Farmington. The district title is St. Mary's first since 2001, when it captured its last state title. From 2002 until this season, Second-seeded South finished 15-12.

McCluer North 3, Hazelwood Central 1 _ The second-seeded Stars avenged a league loss, beating the top-seeded Hawks for in the Class 3 District 2 title game at Florissant Civic Center.

The Stars (13-12-2) got goals from Mark McHugh, Cameron Poindexter and David Gones. Corey Jeffrey had the goal for the top-seeded Hawks (9-17). McCluer North will take on the District 1 champion in sectional action Tuesday at A-B Center.

Trinity 8, Maplewood 0 _ The host Titans (12-11-1) blew open the Class 1 District 2 match with six second-half goals. Junior Joe Pieper led the way for Trinity, scoring three goals and assisting on two others. Other Titan scorers included Bob Terranova, Mike Longinette, Jon Musgrave, Jordan Stretch and Dominic Campbell. Dan Cimicata and Matt Derrington both saw time in the shutout. Third-seeded Maplewood finished 6-16. Trinity will meet the District 1 champion in quarterfinal action Nov. 11 at A-B Center.

Upset Tuesday
Tuesday's results included an unusual number of upsets....

_ In the Class 3 District 4 semifinals at Parkway West, both top-seeded Lafayette and No. 2 seed Marquette were knocked off. Fifth-seeded Parkway West followed up on a 2-1 first-round upset of fourth-seeded Eureka by knocking off Lafayette 2-1 while third-seeded Summit posted a 1-0 overtime victory over Marquette.

_ Another fifth seed, Pattonville, bumped off top-seeded and ninth-ranked Zumwalt South 2-0 in a Class 3 District 7 semifinal at Zumwalt East. The Pirates knocked off fourth-seeded Zumwalt North earlier in the tournament.

_ Third-seeded St. Charles West won in penalty kicks over No. 2 Duchesne in the semifinals of the Class 2 District 4 Tournament at St. Dominic. Duchesne was ranked seventh among area small schools.

_ In Class 3, District 1, third-seeded Seckman won 1-0 in penalty kicks over No. 2 Jackson at Jackson Junior High.