Can the Chargers Win a State Title?

The No. 1-ranked Cor Jesu Academy is two games away from being Missouri Class 3 State Champions. 

The Chargers will face Glendale High School from Springfield, MO, at 4 p.m. Friday at Blue Springs South High School. If they win, they'll go on to play the winner of St. Joseph's Academy and Lee's Summit North at 6 p.m. Saturday. 

If they lose, the consolation game is at noon on Saturday. 

The team has had an impressive run, winning its last 13 games with a 21-2 record. Its only loses were to Nerinx Hall and St. Joseph's Academy, who they could see in the finals. 

The 2-0 loss to St. Joseph's came on April 18, and was the Chargers' last loss. 

But Coach Missy Bruno has felt confident in her team from day one. 

“I can feel it, it’s a feeling we’ve had all season long from the get-go,” she said . “They really do have something special.”

The team has ended every practice, game and team huddle with the same cheer.

Bruno would bring the team into a huddle and shout the words “Get to...” and the team would follow with a collective whisper of the word “state.”

As the season went along and the Chargers got closer to reaching their goal, Bruno told the team to get louder on their part of the cheer to signify how much closer they were to actually reaching the state championships.

Jenn Miller leads the team with 13 goals, closely followed by Mia Zanaboni with 11. Senior goalkeeper Sam Bersett has recorded nine shutouts for the Chargers. 

Never dropping below third in the stltoday.com rankings, Cor Jesu took the No. 1 spot April 30 and is ranked third by the state's coaches.