Kansas high school boys soccer state: Maize South, Trinity each finish runner-up
The pain was even greater because there was hope.
Over the course of 80 minutes on Saturday afternoon, the Maize South boys soccer team proved it would not be out-classed again by Blue Valley Southwest in the Class 5A state championship match at Stryker Sports Complex.
After losing convincingly in the 2018 and 2019 title games to BV Southwest, Maize South believed this third time would be different and played like it. But the Mavericks were ultimately chasing an equalizer that never came and suffered the heartbreak of coming so close in a 3-2 loss to its familiar nemesis.
When the final whistle sounded, Maize South’s players collapsed on the field. Afterward, Maize South coach Rey Ramirez was there to lift them up following an 18-2-1 season.
“This season and the careers that our senior boys have had has been absolutely incredible,” Ramirez said. “They’ve brought forth so many memories for so many people. This was a season where we felt so much support. It’s really something special and something we value and we appreciate. Everything our boys have done this season has brought us so much joy, and I couldn’t be happier with their effort.”
Nightmarish flashbacks to the last two title games against BV Southwest (a 6-0 loss in 2018, then a 6-1 loss in 2019) must have been in Maize South’s heads when the Timberwolves scored in the fourth minute on Saturday.
Ramirez said his team brought the most confidence he has seen from his program to the state tournament and it showed its resiliency on Saturday.
“I think we have learned and matured,” Ramirez said. “We have gotten more experience playing Eastern Kansas teams, Kansas City teams. Just that experience being on the same field and having that belief in ourselves is something that has changed with this group this year.”
It didn’t take long for Maize South to steady itself, earning a penalty kick in the 10th minute following a hand ball in the box and converting when sophomore Miles Edwards rushed in following the save from the spot to clean up the rebound.
When Baha Ibrahim scored his second goal of the game to put BV Southwest ahead 2-1, Maize South answered in the final minute of the first half when BV Southwest’s back line failed to clear a long through ball and Edwards had the pace and poise to hold off a defender and slot it past the charging keeper for his second goal of the game.
“Miles did an excellent job with his finishing opportunities,” Ramirez said. “He provided a lot of pressure up top, and he is just a tenacious, quick and agile forward for us. He’s one of the reasons why we’re so optimistic for the future. We have a freshman in the starting lineup, sophomore after sophomore and then a lot of juniors coming back.”
BV Southwest took the lead in the 47th minute on an impressive volley in front of goal from Samuel Michael to re-direct a cross into the back of the net. Maize South appealed for an off-sides call, but one never came.
Having already found two equalizers, the Mavericks played the final 30 minutes of the match with the confidence they would come level in the game once again. And they nearly did, as Peyton Wilson’s header in the 66th minute dropped just over the cross bar and Vitor Geromel’s roller required a full-length extension save, as did Quentin Gee’s subsequent follow-up attempt.
But the third goal never came, a heartbreaking conclusion to a superb season led by the senior class of Wilson, Gee, Payton Simon, Oliver Jaberg, Noah Rodriguez, Zach Dyer, Kaleb Howard and Dillon Busby.
“It was extremely exciting and nerve-racking,” Rodriguez said of the final minutes. “Soccer is one of those sports where the ball bounces your way sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. We had a couple 1-v-1’s with the keeper, a couple of good shooting opportunities from distance, but our boys were tired, and we just came up a little short in those critical moments.
“But again, we were right there. It was within reach, and I couldn’t be happier with their performance and their achievement.”
In the third-place match, Valley Center (13-7-1) concluded its surprising march to the state tournament with a 4-1 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. Cade Martin’s 30-yard cannon brought the Hornets level in the first half, and the game remained tied for the first 67 minutes, but Aquinas poured in three goals in the final 13 minutes to provide a deceiving final score line.
In the Class 6A third-place match, Wichita North (17-3-1) also saw the end of its first trip to the state tournament since 1991 end with a 3-1 loss to BV Northwest. North reached state after knocking off the undefeated defending state champions, Dodge City, before falling to Olathe West and BV Northwest.
Trinity falls to Miege for third time in 4-1A final
In the Class 4-1A state championship game in Topeka, another Wichita team fell to a familiar opponent.
For the third year in a row, Trinity Academy and Bishop Miege met to decide the state title, and for the third year in a row, Miege came out on top — this time in a 2-1 overtime thriller.
Miege took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but Trinity came level on a superb header in the box from Landon Green in the 57th minute. That proved to be the final goal in regulation, as overtime was required to decide the winner after Miege had won the last two years by a 3-1 score line.
Heartbreak ensued for Trinity when it was whistled for a hand ball in the box with 90 seconds left in the golden-goal overtime and Miege’s Mauricio Salas buried the game-winning penalty kick. delivering Miege its sixth straight state title. Trinity finished the season with a 15-6 record.
In the third-place match, Augusta met a similar fate in its first appearance at the state tournament in program history when it conceded a penalty kick in overtime and watched Tonganoxie slot away the game-winning goal for a 3-2 victory.
After trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Orioles (17-4) rallied and took the lead behind goals from Logan Ruddle and Connor Inlow, but Tonganoxie found the equalizer in the 77th minute to force overtime.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 7:39 PM.
.jpg)