Wichita’s first: Bishop Carroll girls soccer scores ‘cathartic’ state title
For the first 15 years of his career, Bishop Carroll girls soccer coach Greg Rauch had to conjure a season-ending speech with a broken heart.
To come so close so many times is an achievement, but to never hoist the first-place trophy after playing in 11 of the last 13 semifinals at the Class 5A state tournament was truly agonizing to Rauch.
It tortured the coach to think of all of the great teams and all of the great players who never won the ultimate prize at Carroll.
“There were some dark moments when you really doubt yourself,” Rauch said. “Am I the right guy for this job? So many questions and not healthy ones, either.”
But that’s the thing about sports, one glorious moment can wash away more than a decade of pain and anguish.
That’s exactly what Rauch experienced when the final whistle blew this past Saturday and at long last, Carroll claimed the 5A championship with a 2-1 win over St. James Academy.
“It was completely cathartic,” Rauch said. “All of the angst and frustration and disappointment, it just all melted away.”
It was a historic victory by several metrics.
Not only did Carroll become the first Wichita team to win the 5A title, snapping a 19-year reign by the Kansas City area, the Golden Eagles also etched their spot in Kansas history as just the second 21-0 team in state history.
“Honestly, it feels unreal,” Carroll senior Darby Howard said. “But at the same time, it’s not unreal because we all envisioned this and worked so hard to get this. We knew this was possible with this group of girls.”
There has been no shortage of talent over the years at Carroll, but the make-up and chemistry of this team seemed different from the onset.
Heads were turned when Carroll opened the season with a 1-0 win over Olathe West, then again two weeks later when the Golden Eagles notched a come-from-behind win over St. Thomas Aquinas, the 4-time defending state champions. Later in the season Carroll again conceded first in a rivalry game against Kapaun Mt. Carmel, the team again responded with five goals and a win.
It was a team that had everything it needed: dynamite goal scorers in Howard, Leah Henke and Avery McCorry, box-to-box midfielders who controlled the middle of the field in Andrea Vielmas, Itzelle Lumbreras and Asha Dugan, and a stingy defense led by Maddie Weed, Liza Dugan, Rachel Hawkins, Lauren Suellentrop and Olivia Hermann with Josie Klausmeyer in goal.
“There’s just a special chemistry with our team,” said Henke, the program’s all-time leading scorer who found the back of the net one last time in the 5A final. “We’re all just best friends. We all worked together to push each other to be as great as we can. Everybody came together with the same goal and we made it happen. It’s just a special group and I’m glad we were the ones that were able to do it.”
So many alumni watched with pride as the current crop of “Sheagles” celebrated a long-awaited title, maybe even with a tinge of jealousy.
But Rauch did his best to make sure the current players understood the significance of what past greats like Shelby Lopez, Maria Walden, Keighton Allen, Baylee Vaughn, Hanleigh Allen, Jami Reichenberger, Maguire Sullivan, Ashton McCorry, Taylor Bockover, Khloe Shuckman, Lindsey Maul and many more meant to the program.
That message resonated with many of the current players who grew up watching and idolizing past Carroll greats.
“I remember being a ball girl for Carroll games watching them play and I thought they were so good,” Henke said. “They really did pave the way in this program and they made it what it is. So I feel like they’re all a part of this win. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
For Rauch, the impact goes beyond Carroll.
Being a Wichita native who came up in an era when Northwest’s Bobby Bribiesca and Kapaun’s Alan Shepherd put Wichita soccer on the map, Rauch felt a deep sense of pride in joining their company as championship coaches.
“Of course it feels great saying Bishop Carroll was the first (girls) team to do it,” Rauch said. “But honestly, it just feels good as a Wichita kid to say, ‘You know what, we can compete down here.’”
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