Introducing the 2021 Wichita Eagle high school girls soccer All-Metro team
The Wichita area featured some of the best high school girls soccer players in Kansas this season and that star power is highlighted on The Wichita Eagle’s 2021 All-Metro girls soccer team.
The All-Metro squad consists of 11 of the top girls soccer players (10 field players, one goalkeeper) and a top coach from Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties, based on individual performance, team success and area coaches’ feedback.
Bishop Carroll senior forward Khloe Schuckman was named the All-Metro Player of the Year after finishing with 26 goals and 18 assists for the Golden Eagles this season. Below are the complete All-Metro selections:
Taylor Bockover, Bishop Carroll senior defender
The rock on the back line for Carroll for years, Bockover concluded a standout career with another brilliant season. The Washburn signee was a big reason why Carroll notched 15 shutouts and only allowed 11 goals in 21 games. Bockover was named first team all-state in Class 5A and also first team all-City League.
“If you watch Taylor play the game, then her physical gifts are on display at all times,” Carroll coach Greg Rauch said. “There were opposing coaches that came up to me after games and would talk to me and say, ‘She just gets it.’ She’s in the right position all the time and then also has the recovery speed that most don’t have. She’s just a complete player for us. She was the one who always took on the opponent’s best player and she always did a great job.”
Emma Franklin, Eisenhower senior forward
Franklin has a case for the best overall player in program history, as she ended her career as Eisenhower’s all-time leader in assists and second all-time in goals scored — and that’s with only three seasons. Franklin capped off her senior season with 24 goals and 18 assists, leading Eisenhower to a 16-1-2 record and a trip back to the Class 5A quarterfinals. The Missouri Southern signee earned first team all-league honors in AV-CTL Div. II.
“Emma was the biggest threat for us every time she stepped on the field,” Eisenhower coach Brandon Sommer said. “Teams knew they had to account for her because she’s really fast and she’s really good on the ball. She can go on a solo run or set people up. She was just tenacious on the field. It would catch some people off-guard because she would look all relaxed and then all of a sudden she would turn it on and blow past them. She was a lot of fun to watch.”
Kenzi Gillispie, Circle senior defender
For years, Gillispie has earned a reputation as one of the state’s most skilled and reliable defenders. A transfer from Newton, Gillispie helped spark the best season in Circle’s program history with the Thunderbirds finishing with a 17-1 record and a trip to the Class 4-1A quarterfinals thanks to 11 shutouts. The Kansas State signee earned first team all-state status in Class 4-1A and also first team all-league honors in the AV-CTL Div. III-IV.
“Kenzi will be playing at K-State next year and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she plays right away. She’s that good,” Circle coach Andrew Stauffer said. “She’s so strong in the back and when I compare her to other center backs in our league and in 4A soccer, she just brings a whole different level to our team. She was the reason why we stayed organized in the back all season. Anybody who tried to take her on struggled to get past her. She had the size and the speed to win any challenge. I would call her the enforcer for us in the back.”
Haley Hughes, Mulvane senior defender
There were many key pieces for Mulvane during its Cinderella run to the Class 4-1A state championship game, but Hughes was arguably the most important for her on-field play and leadership. The senior anchored the back line for Mulvane and provided much-needed, high-level experience that helped the Wildcats hold up in so many tense playoff games. The Sterling College signee earned second team all-state honors in Class 4-1A and first team all-league honors in the AV-CTL Div. III-IV.
“Haley was the heart and soul and voice of our entire team,” Mulvane coach Jesse Myers said. “For as good as she was technically, and she was really, really good, she was even more important for us on the back line talking and communicating to our other girls. She just had a really good feel for taking up space. She was a shut-down defender for us and her leadership really is going to be irreplaceable. We’re sad she’s moving on, but I’m so proud of an amazing girl.”
Brooklyn Hunter, Circle senior midfielder
Hunter was so good this season that her final statistics — 21 goals, 38 assists — look like video-game numbers. The Butler Community College signee was the engine that made Circle go in what became the best season in program history, as the Thunderbirds finished with a 17-1 record and a trip to the state quarterfinals. Hunter earned first team all-state in Class 4-1A and first team all-league in AV-CTL Div. III-IV.
“What makes Brooklyn so special is how she sees the field,” Circle coach Andrew Stauffer said. “She was our leader on the field this season and she had the ability to get others to step up and play at that high level we needed. We essentially built our entire team around her. She was the focal point and I would say 95% of all of our goals she had some kind of role in. Everything revolved around her abilities and she had the talent and the skill to pull it off for us.”
Makenzie Orr, Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior midfielder
Orr blossomed in her junior season as a creative force in the middle for Kapaun Mt. Carmel. She finished the season with 14 goals and 10 assists, while helping the Crusaders reach a Class 5A regional championship game. Orr earned first team all-state honors in Class 5A and also first team all-league honors from the City League.
“Makenzie has been a standout player for us since her freshman year,” Kapaun coach Anthony Cantele said. “She’s so good with the ball at her feet. The best moments for her are when we’re counter attacking and then she’ll just blow by a player and put the entire defense on their heels. Her confidence this season, more than anything, is what stood out to me. She’s never afraid to take on the best players and I love that about her.”
Hannah Schaffer, Eisenhower senior defender
No defense had a better overall season than the group at Eisenhower, which registered 16 shutouts in 19 games. Schaffer was the leader on the back line for the Tigers, which finished with a 16-1-2 record and a trip to the Class 5A quarterfinals, as the Southern Nazarene signee was a shut-down defender at center back. Schaffer earned first team all-league status in AV-CTL Div. II.
“Hannah just had a great eye for the game,” Eisenhower coach Brandon Sommer said. “She could see the attack building and she was so good at snuffing out the second or third ball in an attack to break it up. She was a really good, physical player and was good at never backing down. She knew her angles of approach when she was up against someone super fast. She may not have been as fast as them, but Hannah always knew the right angle to take to close the gap. And then she was excellent for us with the ball at her feet being a distributor. She was vital to our success.”
Khloe Schuckman, Bishop Carroll senior forward
No one in the area has been more dangerous for longer than Schuckman, who was Carroll’s go-to goal scorer and creator during its third-place run in the Class 5A state tournament. The Washburn University signee finished the season with 26 goals and 18 assists, while earning first team all-state honors in Class 5A and first team all-league honors in the City League.
“Her numbers this season were just ridiculous,” Carroll coach Greg Rauch said. “I think the biggest thing with Khloe is just her speed. I think anyone, even if they didn’t follow the sport, could recognize that she’s got something special there. And then this year she just kicked everything up an extra notch. She did a great job honing her skills and becoming a more complete player with a better touch and better understanding of the game. It’s going to be really fun to see her in college because she’s still ascending.”
Haley Sparks, Valley Center senior forward
Whenever a team played Valley Center, it had to account for one of the state’s best goal scorers up top. Sparks finished the season with 22 goals and six assists and ended her career as Valley Center’s all-time leading scorer, despite only playing three seasons. The Emporia State signee earned first team all-state recognition in Class 5A and was voted the AV-CTL Div. II MVP.
“Haley is just an awesome combination of being extremely talented and a very hard worker,” Valley Center coach Matt Coleman said. “She’s relentless when it comes to trying to get the ball and score goals. She’s put in a lot of work in the weight room and she’s very strong. You don’t see her combination of strength and speed very often. It’s a pretty rare combination to be that strong and still that fast. And when you have an absolute cannon for a shot, then it doesn’t matter what defenses try to take away, she’s going to find a way to beat you.”
Kaylee Wilcox, Maize senior defender
Maize had one of the most dominant seasons in the area, as it didn’t suffer its first loss until the Class 5A quarterfinals in a 17-1-1 season. While the Eagles were successful because they had talent all over the field, Wilcox stood out in particular with her speed, savvy and skill playing the left wingback role in Maize’s possession-based attack. The Newman signee earned first team all-state honors in Class 5A and first team all-league honors in AV-CTL Div. I and helped Maize register 12 shutouts with wins over Bishop Carroll (twice), Eisenhower and Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
“What made Kaylee so special is that she’s just a lock-down defender,” Maize coach Mike Pfeifer said. “She rarely got beat and if there was ever a chance she would, she had incredible athleticism that allowed her to catch up and take the ball back. She was so good at using her body to separate the player from the ball and once she had the ball, she did not lose the ball. She had this innate ability to know exactly what to do with it, whether it was with her dribbling or give-and-go or a deep ball. That was extremely important for us because we liked to control the game through possession and a lot of times that started with Kaylee in the back.”
Madi Wingler, Bishop Carroll junior goalkeeper
Wingler has carved out a reputation as one of the best goalkeepers, not only in Wichita, but in the entire region. She has been verbally committed to Kansas State since a freshman and Wingler recorded 15 shutouts with 0.52 goals allowed per game for a Carroll team that finished third in Class 5A. She was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year in Class 5A, as well as first team all-state and first team all-league in the City League.
“Madi may have the best work rate of any player I’ve ever seen,” Carroll coach Greg Rauch said. “It’s just crazy to watch her work. She would leave our practices and go straight to individual training sessions. She loves everything about goalkeeping. She’s been a D1 commit since she was a freshman and you can see why when you watch her on the field. I thought this year she became a better director in the back for us and was more vocal giving instructions. It was pretty cool to see that maturation process.”
Jesse Myers, Mulvane coach
No team came out of nowhere like Mulvane, a program that has never gone past a regional championship game before. Not only did the Wildcats do that, but they rallied all the way to the Class 4-1A state championship game to cap off a 16-5 season that will go down as the best ever in school history. From the goal-scoring prowess of Karlie Kanaga to the creative ability of Emma Kolbe in the midfield to Haley Hughes anchoring the back line to the timely saves in goal from Rylie Schiffelbein, Mulvane rose to the occasion in the postseason to provide one of the best Cinderella runs ever under Myers’ guidance.
“The girls just stayed with each other and kept working and believed in each other and in themselves,” Mulvane coach Jesse Myers said. “The whole was just so unselfish and it was just a magical run that hopefully we can do again sometime. It was a great combination of girls that just dug deep and found a way to do what they needed to do to win games. It was special to watch and I’m so thankful I was able to be a small part of it. I told them at the start of the season they had a chance to be a top program, they just had to believe it. And they did.”
All-Metro second team
Jadyn Allen, Bishop Carroll senior midfielder
Morgan Blackwell, Eisenhower senior midfielder
Kyndal Ewertz, Maize South freshman forward
Eden Hadley, Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior defender
Destiny Hoy, Bishop Carroll junior forward
Karlie Kanaga, Mulvane sophomore forward
Kyrah Klumpp, Valley Center senior goalkeeper
Emma Kolbe, Mulvane junior midfielder
Mia Long, Maize South senior defender
Hadlie Lowe, Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior forward
Cassie Moeder, Andover Central senior forward
Haley Rogers, Maize junior forward
Alayna Runck, Maize junior defender
Karsyn Slothower, Maize sophomore goalkeeper
Carsyn Soto, Circle senior forward
Kaylyn Truong, Maize South junior midfielder
Lauren Vestring, Northwest senior defender
Yossi VIllagrana, East senior midfielder
Jayda Wyatt, Eisenhower junior midfielder
Adam Stauffer, Circle coach
All-Metro third team
Abby Bachman, Eisenhower junior defender
Mina Chapman, Maize senior forward
Lanna Chase, Circle senior defender
Ali Coash, Valley Center sophomore defender
Kaitlyn Erwin, Eisenhower senior forward
Adison Hendershot, Maize South sophomore goalkeeper
Lexi Jack, Eisenhower senior defender
Olivia Kenas, Classical senior forward
Ava Law, Andover junior defender
Grace Long, Bishop Carroll sophomore midfielder
Rose Loyal, Andover sophomore midfielder
Peyton Martin-Peterson, East junior forward
Maddy Reaves, Andover Central senior midfielder
Elyce Pfeifer, Maize junior midfielder
Paige Putter, Maize sophomore midfielder
Logan Riley, Derby junior defender
Rylie Schiffelbein, Mulvane sophomore goalkeeper
Hannah Stipp, Circle sophomore goalkeeper
Austin Clifton, Northwest coach
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 12:16 PM.
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