By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls soccer team worked all season to put itself in the position it was in Tuesday night at McElroy Field.
And with a seventh straight Class 6A final four berth on the line, the top-seeded and heavily-favored Junior Blues took advantage of that envious position, romping to a 10-0 state quarterfinal victory over Wichita North to earn a spot in Friday's 5 p.m. state semifinal against Blue Valley West at Hummer Sports Park.
Washburn Rural junior Reagan Allen advances the ball in Tuesday's 10-0 Class 6A quarterfinal win over Wichita North while teammate Brooklyn DeLeye looks for a pass. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural, which improved to 16-2-1 on the season, put 8-11-0 North away with five goals in the first 17:43 of the game and went on to build a 7-0 halftime cushion before ending the game via the 10-goal spread rule with 16:17 remaining.
"The goal all year was to be the No. 1 seed because the No. 1 seed gets some advantages by being at home and getting the best draw possible, all those things,'' said Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel, whose Junior Blues have outscored their three postseason foes by a 24-0 margin. "So we worked hard all year to get that, to create a situation where we would have the best path for ourselves.
"The best part is the girls didn't just take advantage of the path, they destroyed the path. They've played as well as they could and we've got off to fast starts the past three games and to win a quarterfinal like that is pretty amazing.''
Sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye scored the only goal the Junior Blues would need less than four minutes into the game and seniors Brynn Fitzgibbons and Joy Ngibuini and juniors Hunter McWilliams and Belle Kennedy followed with rapid-fire goals to put Rural in command 5-0 with 22:17 left in the first half.
Fitzgibbons and Kennedy both added their second goals of the night to give the Junior Blues a seven-goal advantage at the half before junior Emma Krueger and freshman Hayley Legg added second-half goals and Kennedy ended things with her third goal with just over 16 minutes remaining.
McWilliams and Ngibuini both were credited with two assists while Kennedy, junior Reagan Allen, junior Alandra Bailey, sophomore Mackinly Rohn, senior Izzy Entz and sophomore Maya Hoge also picked up assists.
Sophomore Hailey Beck and freshman Mackenzie Flood combined to post the shutout in goal for the Junior Blues.
Washburn Rural senior Riley Palmer (6) and Wichita North's Angela Flores chase a bouncing ball in the Junior Blues' 10-0 Class 6A quarterfinal win Tuesday at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural will be facing a very familiar opponent in Friday's semifinal, with Blue Valley West having won the past three 6A state titles, including 1-0 wins over the Junior Blues in the 2019 and 2018 championship games.
West rallied for a 3-2 regular-season win over Rural back on April 12, but the Junior Blues have won 11 straight games since that loss.
The Centennial League will have two teams in the 6A semis, with Manhattan (15-3-0) taking on Shawnee Mission East (15-4-0) in the 7 o'clock semifinal.
The semifinal winners will play for the state title at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hummer, following the 12 p.m. third-place contest.
CLASS 6A SOCCER QUARTERFINAL
WASHBURN RURAL 10, WICHITA NORTH 0
Wichita North (8-11-0) 0 0 -- 0
Washburn Rural (16-2-1) 7 3 -- 10
Washburn Rural -- Goals: Kennedy 3, Fitzgibbons 2, DeLeye, Ngibuini, McWilliams, Krueger, Legg. Assists: McWilliams 2, Ngibuini 2, Allen, Bailey, Kennedy, Rohn, Entz, Hoge. Shutout: Beck, Flood.
