Maize boys soccer beats rival for first time in six years behind ‘best team we’ve had’
.JPG "Maize’s Tanner Prophet")
This summer, Maize boys soccer went through two heart surgeries, one literally and one metaphoric.
Senior striker Andy Nam was ruled out for several months when he underwent a heart surgery that had the Eagles on pins and needles. And program-defining coach Jay Holmes left Maize for Newman University.
Through all of that and a global pandemic to pair, Maize is having its best season in recent history. The Eagles beat Bishop Carroll, arguably their biggest rival, 2-1 on Thursday for their first win in the series in six years.
The Eagles are 6-1-1 and haven’t lost since the season opener.
“All four years I’ve always wanted to beat these guys, and now it has finally happened,” senior midfielder Tanner Prophet said. “It’s done. We accomplished it.”
Prophet scored the opening goal on Thursday on a long-distance header. He celebrated with a leaping fist pump and ran toward his former assistant and now head coach.
Mike Pfeifer was hired over the summer to replace Holmes, who became one of the best high school soccer coaches in Kansas while at Maize. The shoes were big to fill, but Pfeifer said the transition has been relatively easy.
“I was shopping with my wife and my daughter when I got a call from Jay, and he said, ‘Hey, are you sitting down?’ ” he said. “It was a great opportunity for him at Newman and a great opportunity for me to step up.”
After the emotions settled, Pfeifer and the Eagles got to work. With several experienced seniors on the 2020 roster, the familiarity with Holmes’ systems was already there, but Pfeifer had conversations with his former boss to iron out what this season would look like on the pitch.
But more than anything, Pfeifer said the Eagles got to work.
“There’s not another team that works any harder than these guys in the offseason,” he said.
Maize has hovered around a .500 winning percentage over the past few seasons, often playing second fiddle to the Eagle football team in the fall and the girls soccer team in the spring.
After a 3-1 road loss to Eisenhower in the season-opener, Maize beat the likes of Andover, Andover Central and Trinity Academy, which eached the 4-1A title game last year. The season came to a head at Derby.
Derby has had Maize’s number in AVCTL I league play for years. The Eagles went on the road and tied 1-1 in a game they believed they should have won.
With Thursday’s win over Bishop Carroll in which Newton transfer Mikey Velasques scored the game-winner in the second half, Maize staked its claim as one of the best teams in Class 5A West.
Prophet is the emotional leader on the field for Maize, but several talented players surround him. Sophomore goalkeeper Grant Wessley was huge in Thursday’s win. Senior Rory Morales is always ready to pick a pass down the wing. Velasques is one of the quickest players in Kansas. And senior Max Shea has been a staple at Maize for as long as Prophet has.
“As a freshman, I knew some day we would have a solid team, but I didn’t know this was going to be our solid team,” Prophet said. “This is the best team we’ve had in four years.”
