Wichita North boys soccer upsets defending champions for first state bid since 1991
Jesse Ortiz hadn’t been required to do much this season playing goalkeeper for the Wichita North boys soccer team.
Most games, North dominated possession and its back line was so quick and organized, opponents rarely made it far enough to place a quality shot on goal for Ortiz to swipe away.
That all changed on Tuesday when North made the long bus ride to Dodge City to try to take down the defending Class 6A state champions that carried a 38-match unbeaten streak into the quarterfinal matchup.
Ortiz had to be everywhere against Dodge City’s unrelenting attack — and he was, recording a season-high in saves that reached double-digits, as North survived for a 2-1 victory to stun Dodge City and advance to the Class 6A state semifinals for the first time since 1991.
“Jesse finally got to show all of Kansas what he can do,” North coach Curt Wullschleger said. “If any young goalies are out there looking to see what it takes to be a next-level keeper, just watch the film of Jesse from tonight. He made so many athletic saves. We’re so thankful he’s on our team.”
It has been a historic season for North, which also claimed its first City League championship in program history in the final game of the regular season.
After taking down the defending state champions, North (17-1-1) believes it is a team of destiny heading into Friday’s 7 p.m. semifinal game against Olathe West (11-7-1) at Olathe’s College Boulevard Activity Center.
“Why not us? That’s the message now. Why not us?” Wullschleger said. “There’s no good reason why it can’t be us. We just went in and knocked off the undefeated, defending state champions on the road. Our crowd played a massive factor. I’m pretty sure we had more fans than (Dodge City) did. We were feeding off that energy and I’m sure it’s going to be even better on Friday.”
Up against a heavy favorite on the road, North was injected with confidence early when it was able to strike first after Dodge City was whistled for a hand ball in the box and Francisco Lopez slotted away a penalty kick in the 26th minute.
But Dodge City was able to quickly equalize, scoring on a penalty kick of its own, to tie the score heading into halftime.
“We talked at halftime about how we knew it was going to end up being a one-goal game and how we might change our formation and drop another person back into the midfield,” Wullschleger said. “But we quickly realized we didn’t need to do that. We kept our same formation and we kept the majority of our starters in. This was an 80-minute game for a lot of our kids, but man, those kids came through in the clutch.”
North found its second breakthrough in the 58th minute when Arturo Veliz capitalized off a Dodge City turnover and played Emiliano Gallo through, as Gallo blasted a shot that deflected off a defender and stunned the goalkeeper, dipping below the post and sneaking into the back of the net for what would prove to be the game-winner.
“I hit my knees and my arms were going crazy,” Wullschleger said. “We all went nuts.”
But the final 22 minutes weren’t without their nervous moments, as Dodge City sent all of its numbers forward and had multiple barrages on goal. Ortiz stood up to every challenge.
“This has been 30 years in the making,” Wullschleger said. “It’s hard to wrap your head around something like that, but this group of young men is special. They live up to these big moments and they performed under pressure and I’m just thankful to be a part of this team.”
Augusta reaches state semifinals for first time in school history
The dream season of Augusta marches on.
After winning the program’s first league championship and claiming just the third regional title, Augusta added a first in program history on Tuesday by advancing to the Class 4-1A semifinals with a 4-0 rout of Topeka Hayden.
The Orioles (17-2) will take on Bishop Miege (11-8) in a 5 p.m. game on Friday at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka.
“We knew (Topeka Hayden) wanted a close game in the end, so we knew we had to attack,” Augusta coach Dusty Buell said. “And when we’re at our best attacking, I don’t think there’s another offense like it in the state. We knew we would have to play really, really well and that’s what the boys did.”
After a scoreless first half, it only took Augusta one minute after halftime to find the game’s first goal when Kaden Kearney finished a corner kick with the service from Payton Ball.
Buell said Augusta has been able to achieve its historic success this season because it has so many dangerous options, instead of just one striker like it has had in the past. That depth was on full display in the second half, as Cody Meckel, Logan Ruddle and Kearney added his second goal to provide the final score line.
Augusta has had a high-octane offense this season powered by Kearney, Ball and Connor Inlow.
“Now when we have the ball, we have one guy with 37 goals and another with 29 goals and another with 17 goals,” Buell said. “We have so many different weapons, it’s pretty much pick-your-poison and you better pick right because these guys are going to keep coming at you and coming at you. This is exactly how we want to play with our guys playing with that never-say-die mentality.”
Maize South powers way back to the Class 5A semifinals
The Maize South senior class experienced the joy of going to the state semifinals their first two years, then experienced the heartache last season having their season ended abruptly before the quarterfinals.
After losing out last season, the Mavericks were motivated to return to the Class 5A semifinals and fulfilled their goal on Tuesday with a convincing 2-0 victory over Kapaun Mt. Carmel. The Mavericks (17-1-1) will play defending champions, St. Thomas Aquinas (14-4-1), at 5 p.m. Friday at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita.
“All of our experiences in the past, the good and the bad, helped the boys learn from their predecessors,” Maize South coach Rey Ramirez said. “Having both extremes really helped them with motivation and with their maturity. They have truly taken all of the best things from both experiences and they’ve persevered.”
After a scoreless first half, it only took Maize South three minutes to break through after halftime when Peyton Wilson finished a breakaway. The team’s other leading scorer, Vitor Geromel, provided the second goal with individual brilliance, splitting a pair of defenders in the box, then chipping the keeper to secure the victory.
The team has also relied on a back line anchored by senior Oliver Jaberg and sophomore Caden Wait with Payton Simon in goal, while senior Marcos Rodriguez has been a creative cog in the midfield.
“Whenever we match our quality with effort, we’re going to be a very hard team to beat,” Ramirez said. “We just have to believe in ourselves. I think the confidence in which we played with tonight, the swag our boys walked out on the field with is something we need to keep going forward for Friday and Saturday. We’ve got to respect (Aquinas), but not be afraid and play with the same belief that we played with today.”
Valley Centers stuns Bishop Carroll in shootout victory
It would be hard to find more of a contract in program prestige than Tuesday’s Class 5A quarterfinal matchup between Bishop Carroll, a perennial power in Wichita, and Valley Center, a team with not much history of success.
But that didn’t matter to these Hornets, which managed to play Carroll to a scoreless draw through the full 100 minutes, including four overtime periods, and then stun the higher-seeded Golden Eagles by winning the penalty kick shootout, 4-1, to advance to the 5A semifinals.
It had been so long since Valley Center had reached the state semifinals that the team’s Twitter account settled on “for the first time in a very long time.” Regardless of how long it’s been, the Hornets (13-5-1) will look to keep their dream season going in a 7 p.m. semifinal game on Friday against Blue Valley Southwest (15-1-3) at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita.
Valley Center has been led this season by senior Cade Martin, one of the state’s top playmakers, who has paired well with senior Antonio Tanguma in the midfield. The Hornets have also leaned on a reliable defense anchored by a trio of seniors in Nash Crosby, Eli Wilhite and Logan Glidewell on the back line with senior Isaiah Stokes in goal.
Trinity Academy delivers another rout to reach state semifinals
It’s been difficult for Trinity Academy to find much competition so far this postseason.
The Knights delivered their third straight rout to open the playoffs, this time a 7-0 victory on the road over Coffeyville to secure their spot once again in the Class 4-1A semifinals where Trinity (14-5) will play Tonganoxie (12-6-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka. Trinity has now outscored its three opponents in postseason play by a combined 21-0.
No one has been scoring more than Trinity’s Cooper Matthews, who netted three goals on Tuesday and now has three straight hat tricks heading into the state semifinals. The Knights led 3-0 at halftime with Matthews scoring twice and Colin Green adding the other, then tacked on four more in the second half — one more from Matthews, an own goal by Coffeyville, a goal by Cole Matthews and a penalty kick converted by Green.
After losing to Bishop Miege in the state championship game the last two seasons, Trinity will look to score redemption with another potential showdown with the Stags if both teams win their games on Friday.
Derby loses to Washburn Rural in 6A quarterfinals
Washburn Rural scored 22 seconds into the game and Derby never recovered in a 6-1 loss in a Class 6A quarterfinals game.
The Panthers managed to make things interesting late in the first half when Angel Vielmas played a high-arching ball into the box that Leo Fernandez headed back across that Cole Dubois managed to slot away, cutting Washburn Rural’s lead to 2-1.
Derby hung tough in a physical affair, but the wheels came off in the final 16 minutes of the game when Washburn Rural poured on four more goals to make the final score a little deceiving.
The Panthers concluded a successful 15-2-2 campaign that included a league championship and a regional title.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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