Kapaun’s focus on redemption fuels 3-1 playoff win over Wichita Heights

The Wichita Heights Falcons and the Kapaun Crusaders were as close as close gets in KSHAA’s standings. They came into the first round of the playoffs with identical records and only 0.031 seed points separating them.

The one thing separating the two was the fact that the Falcons had defeated the Crusaders earlier in the season.

Heights had that prior win dangling over Kapaun’s head, but the Crusaders were able to convert that as fuel to a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.

“We all wanted to get revenge on Heights,” senior Corbin Mai said. “And us seniors, we didn’t want this to be our final game.”

The earlier loss to Heights sparked a goal of redemption and kept Kapaun from looking ahead in postseason play.

“It’s easy at this point in the year to look at the regional championship game and who you’re going to face then,” Kapaun coach Anthony Cantele said.

“This year is especially important because Heights is a team we lost to earlier in the season, so we knew we had to focus on this first and then worry about the next one when it comes.”

Although Kapaun and Heights had a fair amount of shots on goal, both teams got off to a slow start offensively.

Even with shots not falling, Kapaun tried to keep its composure. That’s when things turned around for them.

Senior Jack Barrier found the ball on a breakaway and was able to get Kapaun on the board. Barrier said that patience and persistence played a big role in scoring that goal.

“At first we weren’t making our shots, but then we mentally got back in the game and that’s when we started hitting them,” Barrier said. “We just never give up, even when things are getting tough.”

But Heights matched the intensity and scored an equalizer in just minutes later.

Kapaun regained the lead late in the first half with Mai sneaking the ball in with nearly perfect shot placement.

“Being able to get the lead early gave us a leg up because we weren’t as fast-paced,” Mai said. “We were able to slow things down and really think about our plays.”

Kapaun moves on to play Andover Central, the No. 1 seed in 5A on Thursday. The winner moves on to sub-state.

Cantele said the Crusaders must focus on finishing plays at the net if they hope to advance further.

“We need to work on getting the ball in the back of the net — that has killed us all season,” Cantele said.

“I think we could attribute all of our losses to lack of finishing and the guys know that and it’s especially important now because if you don’t then you lose and go home.”