St. Vincent soccer will find blazing conditions at final four

~ The heat index is expected to reach as high as 100 for today's Class 1 semifinals

The St. Vincent girls soccer team likely will have a second opponent to worry about at today's Class 1 final four.

The National Weather Service in St. Louis is forecasting a high of 96 with heat index values as high as 100, tough conditions for a soccer game.

"We know it's going to be extremely hot," St. Vincent coach Dusty Wengert said. "We're going to make sure we have both Gatorade and water on the bench. Just have to monitor everybody."

St. Vincent will face Orchard Farm at 11 a.m. today at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton, Mo. The Indians practiced from 10 a.m. to noon each day this week to try to prepare for the heat.

"If I said it once this week, I said it 50 millions times this week it seemed like, 'Make sure we're hydrating, and it can't start tonight,'" Wengert said. "It seemed like they were doing a good job of that this week. That's one reason why we practiced at 10 to 12 this week, to get used to that heat. I didn't see any real problems with hydration at practice, so I'm pretty confident right now that the girls are going to be ready to go."

The Missouri State High School Activities Association recommends that athletic events be postponed or rescheduled if the heat index, which takes into account temperature and humidity, is over 105 degrees. The Illinois and Kansas state high school associations take a similar approach to Missouri, only recommending events be postponed or rescheduled.

But other states, like New York and Kentucky, require athletic events to be stopped if the heat index reaches a certain level -- 104 degrees and above in Kentucky, 96 degrees and above in New York. A sectional boys lacrosse game in Rochester, N.Y., was halted at halftime because of the heat index Tuesday.

Jason West, the communications director for MSHSAA, said he can't remember the heat being an issue in the past with the soccer final four. He said the tournament committee at the A-B Center would make the determination to alter today's and Saturday's schedule if conditions became too dangerous.

"In that particular situation, it would not take a coach to say, 'Hey, it's too hot to play,'" West said. "That decision would be made before the game even started. Once the game started, then they would play the game. There would be water breaks and things like that, like we do for football."

Wengert said one step that already has been taken is allowing tents over the benches to help provide a little shade. He also anticipates modifying his substitution pattern to help keep his players fresh.

"If we just keep girls in and out more or if we have to get into our bench a little bit more," he said. "I probably won't know that for sure until actual game time."