Exhausted but inspired, KMC hands Carroll first loss to ignite City League title race
Since Tuesday, Kapaun has played more than 200 minutes of soccer and spent more time on the road than on the pitch.
That didn’t matter Thursday night. Worn out from a 3-2 road overtime loss to Washburn Rural the night before, Kapaun handed rival Bishop Carroll its first loss of the season with a 3-1 win. More important, the City League title race is back on.
Kapaun coach Anthony Cantele said he knows his group made a lot of people happy in the City League with the win.
“I don’t think they’re happier than me though,” he said.
On paper, Kapaun stood little test against the No. 1 team in Class 5A West. The Crusaders played Wichita Southeast on Tuesday and were devastated at Washburn Rural.
Kapaun entered with five more losses than its Holy War foe, including one to Bishop Carroll in the Titan Classic championship game March 30. The Golden Eagles were also hot after massive wins over East and North.
Carroll sophomore Anna Lasak opened the scoring just four minutes in on an assist from junior Taryn Lubbers. That score held through halftime.
Coming into the second 40 minutes, Cantele said he didn’t change much. But the Crusaders’ mentality did. Junior Molly Boulanger found the equalizer midway through the second half on a 30-yard strike past Carroll goalkeeper Madison Winkler.
The gates were opened. About 12 minutes later, Carroll was called for a handball in the penalty box. Kapaun took the lead and added to it with five minutes to go. Cantele said it would be hard not to be proud of his group’s effort.
Kapaun has had a season of ‘almost.’
April 5, the Crusaders were up on the road at St. Thomas Aquinas before falling late. They opened the City League season April 2 with a narrow 2-1 loss at North. And Wednesday’s loss at Washburn was “probably the most disappointing one” because of the number of blown chances, Cantele said.
With that, Cantele said Thursday’s finish was exactly what his group needed.
“We have been in every single game,” he said. “Our toughest games, we were right there. So this is hard to even express how big it is.”
It was what the City League needed, too. With Carroll’s loss, four teams are now tied at the top with one loss each.
- Wichita North: 6-1-0, loss to Carroll
- Bishop Carroll: 5-1-0, loss to Kapaun
- Wichita East: 5-1-0, loss to Carroll
- Kapaun Mt. Carmel: 5-1-0, loss to North
North travels to East on May 7, and Kapaun hosts East on May 9. Carroll remains the favorite to win the City League crown with no games remaining against any of the other top three teams, but the race was thrown open again Thursday thanks to a gutty effort in likely the final Holy War of the 2019 seniors’ careers.
“We only have 22 girls combined on our JV and varsity roster, so we are already at a disadvantage,” Cantele said. “We didn’t have to tell them much because it is Carroll, so that helped from an emotional standpoint, but tonight they just found something bigger that they didn’t think they had.”