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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The renaissance of Topeka West boys soccer continued Tuesday as the Chargers defeated De Soto for the first time since joining the United Kansas Conference and claimed a 12th victory that should be important for playoff seeding.
Topeka West sophomore Camilo Garcia (17) scored the game-winning goal in Tuesday's 2-1 UKC win over De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Chargers followed up their breakthrough 13-3-1 season a year ago – their best in over a decade – by beating De Soto 2-1 Tuesday at Hummer Sports Park to improve to 12-2-2.
“I’m very proud of this team for the way they’re coming together and finishing the regular season strong,” Topeka West coach Josh Kutter said. “We played well as a team. We’re playing together with everyone on the same page, moving in the same direction.”
The two schools deadlocked in a scoreless first half but came out firing in the second. Junior Kameron Ortiz tallied the game’s first goal, which he celebrated with a roundoff backflip, six minutes into the second half.
De Soto tried to swing the momentum at 28:46 when Gabe Carillo blasted a long score to tie the game, 1-1. But Topeka West struck back just two minutes later. Charger sophomore Camilo Garcia took a pass in traffic in front of the De Soto goal and snuck a shot past the Wildcats’ goalkeeper. The Chargers held De Soto scoreless the final 26 minutes to preserve the 2-1 lead.
Kutter said he was not concerned when his team lost the lead.
“We know that we can find the goal. We know that we have offensive players that can create and score. Having that is calming,” Kutter said. “We know that right after a goal is the most dangerous time, when emotions are high. So the key is staying calm, staying collected and having confidence.
“I think our boys controlled the game pretty well. They didn’t get nervous. They knew they could get it back.”
Topeka West senior goalkeeper Gage Kindred Noragon helped the Chargers improve to 12-2-2 with Tuesday's 2-1 UKC win over De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West senior goalkeeper Gage Kindred-Noragon reflected on the team’s growth since his freshman year, when wins were scarce.
"It’s very emotional to see how far we’ve come,” Kindred-Noragon said. “Ever since freshman year, it’s just gone up from there. I think we can go to state. I see this team as family. Tons of memories have been made here and I think this team can go far.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake and Rossville's volleyball teams both took their first steps to state tournament berths with Class 3A and 2A regional championships Monday night.
Kylie Hanni and the Silver Lake Eagles will host a Class 3A sub-state volleyball tournament on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
Nora Burdiek and Rossville volleyball will host a Class 2A sub-state on Saturday. [File photo]
The Eagles and Bulldawgs will now host sub-state tournaments on Saturday, vying for berths in next week's state tournaments at Hutchinson (3A) and Dodge City (2A).
Silver Lake, top-ranked in 3A, rolled to three straight regional wins Monday night on its home court, taking a 25-9, 25-8 win over Council Grove, a 25-16, 25-11 win over Hiawatha and a 25-11, 25-18 win over Pleasant Ridge to wrap up the regional crown.
The Eagles will host 3A sub-state No. 1 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, facing Perry-Lecompton in one semifinal while Nemaha Central will face Riley County in the other semi. The two winners will meet for the sub-state title.
Rossville hosted a 2A regional Monday and the Bulldawgs went a perfect 3-0 with a 25-10, 25-8 win over McLouth, a 25-13, 25-8 victory over Central Heights and a 25-9, 25-14 win over Mission Valley.
The Bulldawgs will host 2A sub-state No. 2 on Saturday, taking on Cair Paravel Latin in a semifinal match while Maur Hill-Mt. Academy will square off against Kansas City Christian in the other semifinal. The two winners will play for the sub-state championship.
Cair Paravel went 2-1 in Monday's 2A regional at Jefferson North, posting a 26-24, 19-25, 26-24 win over Horton and a 25-16, 25-16 win over Atchison County before dropping a 25-16, 25-23 match to Jefferson North.
Washburn Rural, the No. 1 Class 6A West seed, will be aiming for its ninth straight state berth in a Saturday sub-state at Rural. [File photo/TSN]
Class 6A sub-state at Washburn Rural
Perennial state power Washburn Rural will be looking for its 27th Class 6A state tournament berth in Kevin Bordewick's 31st year as head coach and ninth straight when Rural hosts a sub-state tournament (1 p.m. start) on Saturday.
The Junior Blues, the No. 1 West seed at 28-6, will open their sub-state bid with a semifinal match against Wichita West (5-29) while Maize (16-20) will face Wichita East (5-28) in the other semifinal before the two winners face off in the championship match.
The sub-state champion will advance to next week's Class 6A state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Event Center in Salina.
Hailey Schmidtlein and Hayden volleyball will host a Class 4A sub-state tournament on Saturday. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Class 4A sub-state at Hayden
Hayden, third in Class 4A a year ago, will host a sub-state tournament on Saturday (1 p.m. start) in the Bueltel Activity Center, vying for a return trip to state next week at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The Wildcats, 26-9 on the season and the No. 4 East seed, will play Labette County (12-22) in a semifinal match while No. 5 seed Eudora (25-10) will take on Ottawa (12-20) in the other semifinal.
The two semifinal winners will square off in the sub-state championship match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden had its two-year Class 4A state championship reign ended by Wamego Tuesday at Hutchinson's Carey Park, but the Wildcats posted a top-four team finish as seniors Izzy Glotzbach and Lauren Borjon ended their high school careers with state medals.
Izzy Glotzbach, Hayden [File photo/TSN]
Lauren Borjon, Hayden [File photo/TSN]
Glotzbach tied for fifth individually with a 36-hole total of 164 (85-79) while Borjon tied for 12th at 170 (88-82).
Hayden's Brooke Johnson tied for 23rd with a two-day total of 178 (89-89), one stroke out of 20th.
Kellyn Specht finished at 196 (99-97), Morgan Johnson was at 213 (104-109) and Avery Becker at 226 (116-110) for the Wildcats.
Wamego star Addison Douglass won her fourth straight state title by a seven-stroke margin with a 36-hole score of 145 (77-68) as the Red Raiders won the team championship by 40 strokes over Goodland (658-698).
McPherson was third at 701 while Hayden was fourth at 708.
Kailyn Hanni, Silver Lake [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
Hanni fifth in Class 3A-1A to lead Eagles to fourth-place showing
Silver Lake multi-sport standout Kailyn Hanni closed out her high school golf career with a fifth-place finish in Class 3A-1A Tuesday at Salina Municipal Golf Course.
Hanni posted a 36-hole score of 164, carding rounds of 81 and 83, as Silver Lake, which had placed first and second in the previous two 3A-1A state tournaments, finished fourth as a team at 729.
The Eagles' Savanah Wende narrowly missed a state medal with a tie for 21st at 184 (93-91) while Silver Lake got a tie for 29th from Avenley Head (99-89 -- 188) and a tie for 36th from Morgan Ackerley (91-102 -- 193) to round out its top four.
Rossville's Elley Sanders, competing as an individual, tied for 36th at 193 (95-98).
Goodland's Allison Cure was the individual state champion at 150 (73-77) as the Cowboys won the team title by a 31-stroke margin over Jefferson West. St. Marys Colgan finished third at 718.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Like most college freshmen, former Bishop Carroll soccer star Leah Henke didn't know exactly what to expect when she arrived on the Washburn University campus earlier this fall.
Former Bishop Carroll star Leah Henke leads Washburn soccer with nine goals in just 13 games as a freshman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But it's safe to say that the 5-foot-6 forward didn't expect a team-leading nine goals, including a hat trick, in 13 games for an 8-2-3 Washburn team that is in the midst of an unbeaten streak that has reached nine games.
"I did not expect to be doing this well, so I'm definitely surprised,'' Henke said.
Henke, who helped lead Bishop Carroll to the Class 5A state title as a senior, said her goal at the start of the season was just to do whatever she could to contribute to a Washburn team that graduated a talented senior class off last year's team that won a second straight MIAA regular-season title while earning a second straight NCAA Tournament berth.
"I guess I was a little bit intimidated at first,'' Henke said. "I feel like I did pretty decent in high school, but coming here I just expected that everybody's going to be better than me, so I just wanted to do well and succeed, score goals and do what I came here to do.''
Henke scored a goal in her very first college game, had two goals in her third game and was off and running.
"She was an All-American out of high school and she's really good,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said. "You never know though until they get on campus and how they adjust to college. One of the things we talk about it everything is different in college. In some areas, if the social piece isn't right or if academics aren't strong it's really hard to translate to on-field success, so you never really know until they get here and they compete.
"To Leah's credit, I think the first two weeks was just a lot, with me coaching and all of that, but then once she settled into it you could just see the comfort level rise with every game and every training session and it was just letting her go.''
Henke took her game to another level in Washburn's 5-1 road win at Missouri Southern on Oct. 10 when she recorded a three-goal hat trick in a four-minute span.
"Three goals in four minutes was unbelievable,'' Phillips said. "It was just that quick. Leah took over and it was like bang, bang, bang and the game just went to bed. She's been really good all year, but that night was unbelievable.''
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Locked in a battle with Topeka High, the Washburn Rural boys soccer team saw its new all-time leading scorer come through when it needed him.
Topeka High held the Junior Blues scoreless for 30 minutes Monday at Hummer Sports Park until Washburn Rural senior Dylan Willingham received a pass from Brodye Kocher-Munoz and broke the tie with a shot inside the right post.
Washburn Rural senior Dylan Willingham (middle) became Rural's career scoring leader in Monday's 3-1 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With the first-half goal, Willingham matched the Washburn Rural all-time scoring record. The 57th goal of his career moved Willingham into a tie with former Junior Blues Austin Halsey and Easton Bradstreet.
The Trojans responded 10 minutes into the second half. Senior Santiago Ovalle headed a deflected ball into the net to tie the score at 1-1.
Junior Brodye Kocher-Munoz (9) assisted on both of Washburn Rural senior Dylan Willingham's goals in Monday's 3-1 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Again, when his team needed a goal, Willingham was up to the task. With another assist from Kocher-Munoz, Willingham took sole ownership of the Washburn Rural scoring record at the 13:17 mark with his 58th career goal.
Washburn Rural senior Draden Chooncharoen added an insurance goal – assisted by Willingham – with three minutes remaining for the 3-1 final.
“I know he will tell you, anytime you break a record, you’ve got great teammates around, setting you up,” Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said of Willingham. “The first goal, he gets a great pass at his feet. The second goal, same kind of deal.
“(Dylan) made the plays to make it happen, and it’s not surprising that when we needed a big play, he got it. But my favorite play of the night was, at 2-1, he could have taken a shot, and instead he chipped a ball to the back post and got the assist.”
Willingham allowed himself, briefly, to reflect on the individual accomplishment. But he said he was more happy that the Junior Blues claimed their 31st consecutive Centennial League title than he was about breaking the record.
“I was really excited. There’s really no other way to describe it, I’d say. It’s pretty great,” Willingham said about the scoring record. “I’m really most excited about the league title. As seniors, you know, we have such a long streak, you don’t want to be the class to break the streak.”
Willingham and his coach were both proud of the way the team responded in a tense battle.
“After they got their goal, we allowed no shots at all, which that’s the key to winning close games, honestly is on defense,” Willingham said. “I don’t think we changed anything after their goal. We knew we can pull out a result for sure. Even though they got one goal, we’re not going to get mad or throw a fit. We’re going to just keep playing the way we play.”
