Maize South soccer finishes undefeated run to first Kansas high school state championship
The fourth time was the charm for the Maize South boys soccer team.
In their fourth matchup against Blue Valley Southwest in the Class 5A state championship match in the last five years, the Mavericks finally prevailed and won the first state title in program history with a 3-0 win at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka on Saturday afternoon.
It completed a perfect 21-0 season for Maize South, which finished undefeated and with some revenge after losing to BV Southwest in the state finals in 2021 (3-2), 2019 (6-1) and 2018 (6-0). In their title run, the Mavericks defeated St. Thomas Aquinas and BV Southwest, the pair of Kansas City powers who had won the five previous 5A championships.
“I cannot describe the pride that I feel in our program, in our boys and their families who I have seen first-hand everything they have sacrificed, all of the training, all of the sweat,” Maize South coach Rey Ramirez said. “Seeing the emotion, seeing the tears, seeing the laughter, the joy on everybody’s faces is just the most humbling experience I’ve ever had on a soccer field. Being a small part of this all has been an absolute blessing and I’m so proud in each and every one of our boys and the way they performed and executed.”
Another accomplishment: Maize South became the first team from the Wichita-area team to win the 5A title since Goddard in 2002.
Ramirez said he received congratulations from too many Wichita-area high school soccer coaches to count and Maize South took a great deal of pride representing the Wichita soccer scene against Kansas City.
“I think this postseason showed that there were other teams in the Wichita regional that we had to battle and fight and compete with that took us to our limit and there were other teams from Wichita that belonged on this level,” Ramirez said. “Today it was our turn to show and prove and execute out on the field what we all believe and that’s that Wichita can compete and win against Kansas City.”
“I think we showed how good Wichita teams really are,” Maize South junior center back Caiden Wait, who helped spearhead the back line of a shut-out performance. “We were just counting down the minutes and waiting for that final whistle and when we finally heard it, your heart just drops and you realize, ‘Wow, we just made history.’ All of our fans were going crazy and it was just incredible to have that kind of support.”
It was fitting for Maize South junior Vitor Geromel — who is a Clemson commit and arguably the most talented player to come through the Wichita area in years — to give the Mavericks the early lead with his 41st goal of the season in the 26th minute of the game.
The two teams were trading jabs for the first 25 minutes of play with BV Southwest claiming the better opportunities, but Geromel’s goal flipped the momentum in Maize South’s direction, and the Mavericks were dominant from there.
“Southwest is an incredible team and so well-coached and I think they did have the better of the play early on,” Ramirez said. “But whenever we needed it most, our boys stepped up and in the state championship game it was none other than Vitor who came through. I think that goal really helped our team become more inspired and more energetic and gave us that self-belief and really turned the tables in the game.”
Maize South doubled its lead just 22 seconds before halftime when Gavin Papacek chased down a through ball and poked it past the BV Southwest goalkeeper for the 2-0 lead. Junior Quezada, the hero from Maize South’s triple-overtime regional championship game, tacked on the third early in the second half.
Ramirez was ecstatic about the play from the team’s defense, led by Wait, Tatum Steinhoff and Dylan Gorman, to shut out a talented squad like BV Southwest. After delivering the game-winning assist in the closing minutes of Friday’s 3-2 win over Aquinas in the semifinals, Maize South goalkeeper Andrew Cole followed that up with a shutout in the championship game.
“Our main thing was really trying to keep them out of set pieces,” Wait said. “We have three really strong defenders in the back, so we had confidence as long as we kept them to no set pieces.”
It was an emotional pinnacle for the Maize South senior class that featured Quezada (24 goals, 18 assists), Cole, Steinhoff, winger Ethan Turner (game-winner in Friday’s semifinal), defensive midfielder Gavin Bowman and winger Brayden Figueroa.
“Those guys had seen first-hand what it feels like to be here and what it looks like to fall short and for a season to end in tears,” Ramreiz said. “We’ve never gone into a final four with so much focus and intensity and such a concentrated mindset. At times in the past, we were celebrating just making it to the final four. This group didn’t celebrate that because they knew the goal all along was a state championship.”
Class 6A state tournament results
Saturday’s finals
1st: Mill Valley 1, Olathe West 0
3rd: Dodge City 2, Washburn Rural 1
Friday’s semifinals
Olathe West 3, Dodge City 2
Mill Valley 1, Washburn Rural 0
Class 5A state tournament results
Saturday’s finals
1st: Maize South 3, Blue Valley Southwest 0
3rd: St. Thomas Aquinas 3, Newton 1
Friday’s semifinals
Maize South 3, St. Thomas Aquinas 2
Blue Valley Southwest 3, Newton 1
Class 4-1A state tournament results
Saturday’s finals
1st: Bishop Miege 2, Baldwin 0
3rd: McPherson 3, Wichita Trinity Academy 2 (OT)
Friday’s semifinals
Baldwin 2, McPherson 1
Bishop Miege 2, Wichita Trinity Academy 0
This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 4:01 PM.
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