By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural soccer came from behind to capture its first Class 6A boys state championship since 2012 with a 3-2 win over Shawnee Mission East Saturday night at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, thanks to a 4-2 edge in penalty kicks.
Washburn Rural's soccer team gets ready to raise the Class 6A championship trophy after Saturday night's 3-2 win over Shawnee Mission East in penalty kicks. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
The 19-1-1 Junior Blues, who had to come from behind in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime, battled SM East through two scoreless overtime periods before taking control in penalty kicks.
“State championship games, we told the boys the last couple of days that they're 50-50 games,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel told KSHSAA Covered. "The two best teams in the state usually make their way through the playoffs. We know how good Shawnee Mission East was this year. We just told them, ‘You can't worry about the outcome. You just got to come out and enjoy the last game with your brothers, your teammates. Everybody just give everything they got.’
“When we went down one, it didn't look good. And just like we've done all year, we found a way to get another goal. We felt if we got to PKs, we were going to win it.”
In penalty kicks, seniors Dylan Willingham, Brandon Hamilton, Brody Grogan and Liam Morrison all scored, with Morrison’s shot clinching the title and setting off a wild celebration.
Washburn Rural senior Liam Morrison, also a multi-time Class 6A state champion in track, celebrates after clinching Saturday's 3-2 win over SM East with a penalty kick in the Class 6A state championship game. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Junior Blues senior goalkeeper Miles Cook stopped two shots in penalty kicks and also had big saves in the second half and overtime sessions.
“Honestly, you can't read (penalty kicks) too much,'' Cook said to KSHSAA Covered. "You just have to guess a side. Turned out to be the correct side and made two big saves.
“When your team needs you to step up big, I'm always going to do it. (East’s) student section was talking a little bit, so it gave me an extra boost to make some big saves.”
Washburn Rural senior goalkeeper Miles Cook receives a hug from coach Brian Hensyel after Saturday's 3-2 win over Shawnee Mission East in penalty kicks. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Rural’s first goal was scored with 14:50 left in the first half when junior Broyde Kocher-Munoz headed in a corner from Hamilton
But East battled back to take a 2-1 lead with goals scored by Andrew Hastert with 33:16 left in the second half and Stephen Hlobik with 8:57 remaining in regulation.
Rural junior Myles Didde scored the game-tying goal with 5:20 left in regulation, getting a foot on a loose ball that got kicked around in the box.
“I remember seeing three guys slide past the ball,” Didde told KSHSAA Covered. “I think I took a touch then shot it. When I saw it go in the net I was so happy. I went over to the sideline and got a yellow card for stepping off the field.
“It was crazy. It was a great moment.”
Hensyel agreed.
“Soccer’s a strange sport,'' he said. "You can have all these great moments and shots, and then sometimes the goals that went in are just weird bounces, and they fall to somebody's feet and guys make a play. Myles Didde really came on the last month and had some big moments for us.
"It was really cool to see, on a senior-laden team, the two goals to be by both juniors, which was kind of crazy.''
Hensyel credited Cook for coming through in crunch time.
“Miles came up big,'' Hensyel said. I told him when we went to overtime, the only reason we were even there was he made two or three unbelievable saves.
"And we just felt like if it got to the shootout, we had the right guy in the net. Really happy for Miles, because he had some ups and downs in his career, but this was a shining moment for him.''
Hensyel on his message to his team before the start of penalty kicks: “That we were champions, and whether we won the shootout or not, it didn't really matter. We were a great team, one of the best in Washburn Rural history.'
“I felt confident. I said, ‘Hey, it's either going to be a little heartbreaking or it's going to be one of the best moments of your life, so just step up and hit em,’ and we did.’ ''
Saturday night's Washburn Rural state title followed up the Junior Blues' girls winning their first-ever state championship this past spring, also in PKs.
“It's pretty amazing,'' Hensyel said. "The girls (title) was kind of a breakthrough. The boys obviously have been one of the best programs in the state, but it's been a while since we won one. To get a fourth championship, it put us up there with the best programs in the state.
“To do it all in one calendar year, it's been a pretty good year.”
