COLUMBIA – It was a goal as good as gold.

And it came on a second chance opportunity.

Warrenton senior Christian Trujillo sent a shot that slammed off the chest of diving Battle goalkeeper Ty Leroux during overtime of last Thursday’s regular season finale.

The ball bounced Warrenton’s way and Trujillo scored easily on a putback to lift the Warriors to a 2-1 extra-session victory over the host Spartans.

And after a brutal beginning to the campaign, a lot of things went the Warriors’ way near the end.

They produced a 4-1-1 record in the final six games before their postseason opener, which is pretty good, especially when you consider Warrenton had won just once in 16 games prior.

It’s been a long road, but one totally worth the journey.

“We were just focused on finishing our season really strong before districts and we’ve done that,” Coach John Schulte said. “I’m really proud of how hard our kids have been playing and what they’ve come back from in the early going.”

Warrenton had to come back from a one-goal deficit against Battle.

After a scoreless first half, Sakariye Abdirahman put the Spartans in front 1-0 in the 56th minute.

But Trujillo scored the equalizer five minutes later, and, of course, would eventually add the OT golden goal after regulation rendered a 1-1 tie.

“(Trujillo) and (Josiah Hodgson) were pretty dynamic on the ball,” Battle Coach Tracy Grant told the Columbian Missourian. “We tried to make it a focus to stay near them, but they made some great plays. They just outworked us, outmuscled us near the goal and finished the ball really well.”

Battle, which dropped to 5-17, had plenty of scoring opportunities but was kept at bay by Warrenton senior keeper Paul Sanders, who made nine saves in the contest, including a couple dazzlers.

It was a good regular season sendoff for the Warriors, who knew an upset over top-seeded St. Dominic in the Class 3 District 7 (opener) semifinals was a long shot at best.

And the Crusaders lived up to their hype, defeating Warrenton 8-0 on Saturday afternoon at Liberty Wentzville.

Nate Grewe had three goals and three assists and Tanner King had four goals and as assist to pace St. Dominic, which advanced to a district championship tilt against Liberty Tuesday.

The host Eagles beat Hannibal 6-2 in Saturday’s other semifinal.

Warrenton finished 2019 with a 5-17-1 overall mark. Trujillo was the team’s scoring leader, tallying 23 points (11 goals, one assist). Senior Jake Evrard was the only other player to notch double digits, ending with 13 points (five goals, three assists).

The other goals on the campaign came from Hodgson (four), Jesus Cano (three), Camilo Rodriguez (one), Santiago Cano (one) and Cayden Drake (one).