Bishop Carroll girls soccer punches ticket to Class 5A state-title game
A Wichita-area girls soccer team has never won the Class 5A state championship.
Bishop Carroll believes it has the team to make history with a body of work to back it up.
The Golden Eagles rolled to another victory on Wednesday, a thorough 3-0 win over De Soto at home in the state semifinals to continue a perfect 20-0 season and earn a spot in Saturday’s championship match to decide the 5A title against St. James (19-1).
Wichita’s finest against Kansas City’s best will play at Scheels Stryker Soccer Complex at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
“There’s no doubt St. James is quite the team, but I love what we’ve got,” Carroll coach Greg Rauch said. “I watch our girls and I feel as confident as ever about bringing a team to the state tournament.”
Carroll has been a regular in the state semifinals for the past decade, but only once broken through to reach a final. After beating St. James in a penalty-kick shootout, Carroll came up short, 2-0, against St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2023 final.
As Carroll has out-scored opponents 120-7, this season has certainly felt different.
For starters, Carroll took down its long-time KC nemesis, Aquinas, in a 5-4 overtime win on April 11. And while the two teams that will meet in Saturday’s final will certainly be different from the 2023 match, Carroll’s veterans carry confidence from beating St. James before in a state setting.
“We knew from the start of the season that this team was different,” Carroll senior forward Leah Henke said. “It’s just our chemistry. We’re all such good friends and there’s no bad blood. We all learn from our mistakes and push each other to grow and get better. We all work really hard for each other. It’s just super special.”
A senior version of Henke, the program’s all-time leading goal scorer, is a big reason why Carroll brings more confidence into the final than it did in 2023.
Carroll’s defense spearheaded by Maddie Weed, Liza Dugan, Rachel Hawkins, Lauren Suellentrop and Olivia Hermann also managed to shut out a De Soto attack that featured a duo who had combined for 75 goals this season.
But the offensive attack is equally as special, as Henke, Darby Howard (the program’s third all-time leading scorer) and Avery McCorry have been lethal all season and proved to be so once again on Wednesday with the trio all scoring goals against De Soto.
“We just put all of those monsters up front and unleashed them,” Rauch said. “They’re just so gifted. A lot of my job is just to get out of their way and let them go.”
Another major difference for Carroll is the change in the state tournament format.
Not only did the Golden Eagles play on their home turf on Wednesday, but they will have more than two days of rest before Saturday’s final. That is quite the difference from the 2023 experience when the team won a penalty-kick shootout late Friday evening and had a little more than a 12-hour turnaround before playing for the title the next afternoon.
“It’s so big mentally because we can heal up a little bit, work through some small things we want to tweak and watch film on the opponent,” Rauch said. “And getting to be able to host a state semifinal for the first time ever, everything just feels pretty solid tonight.”
In the other 5A semifinal, St. James dispatched Kapaun Mt. Carmel with the same 3-0 score line. The Crusaders (14-6) will play De Soto (17-3) in Saturday’s 1 p.m. third-place game.
In a 6A semifinal, Maize lost 4-0 at top-seeded Mill Valley and will face Blue Valley in Saturday’s 4 p.m. third-place match in Wichita.
And in a 4-1A semifinal, Rose Hill dropped a 2-1 decision to Bishop Miege and the Rockets (15-5) will play Louisburg (16-4) for third place at 10 a.m. Saturday in Wichita.
Kansas high school girls soccer semifinal scores
Class 6A
Mill Valley 4, Maize 0
Washburn Rural 4, Blue Valley 1
Class 5A
Bishop Carroll 3, De Soto 0
St. James 3, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 0
Class 4-1A
Bishop Miege 2, Rose Hill 1
Topeka Hayden 2, Louisburg 0
KSHSAA girls soccer state schedule
Note: All games will be played on Saturday at Scheels Stryker Soccer Complex in Wichita.
Class 6A
First: Washburn Rural (18-2) vs. Mill Valley (17-2-1), 4:30 p.m.
Third: Blue Valley (11-9) vs. Maize (14-6), 4 p.m.
Class 5A
First: Bishop Carroll (20-0) vs. St. James (19-1), 1:30 p.m.
Third: De Soto (17-3) vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (14-6), 1 p.m.
Class 4-1A
First: Topeka Hayden (13-7) vs. Bishop Miege (15-5), 10:30 a.m.
Third: Louisburg (16-4) vs. Rose Hill (15-5), 10 a.m.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 6:02 AM.
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