Rose Hill boys soccer finds team chemistry in return to Kansas state title game
A month ago, Rose Hill’s boys soccer team looked like a collection of talented players still searching for their rhythm.
After four straight shutouts in the postseason, the Rockets are playing like a true team — and it’s taking them right back to the Class 4-1A state championship game.
Rose Hill punched its ticket to its second straight final on Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Bishop Miege. Now the Rockets (18-2) will match up against Baldwin (17-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Scheels Stryker Complex in Wichita.
“It seemed like most of the year we had a bunch of great individuals out there playing,” Rose Hill coach Jerry Treat said. “But we’ve really turned into a good team lately. We just had to come together as a team, it takes a while to get guys to work together when you get them back from the clubs.”
The transformation has been the foundation of Rose Hill’s postseason surge.
Since a 5-1 loss to Valley Center in the regular-season finale, the Rockets have blanked their opponents for 320 consecutive minutes.
The latest shutout came on Wednesday, as Rose Hill wasted no time taking control of the game against its Kansas City rival. In the fifth minute, junior Joshua Herrera raced up the sideline and whipped a cross into the box. Junior Brady Liebl’s shot was deflected, but teammate Caden Davis was in the perfect spot to bury the rebound for what proved to be the game-winner.
“Your biggest challenge (when scoring early) is usually to make sure the kids don’t think, ‘We already won the game,’” Treat said. “A lot of times that can be a bad thing, but they didn’t play like that at all. Another thing scoring early can do is allow you to dictate play because now that you’re up, you don’t have to take as many risks.”
For the next 75 minutes, Rose Hill’s back line spearheaded by sophomores Jax Kaba and Sebastian Rodriguez and junior JoJo Triana locked in to preserve the lead and secure the team’s third straight win over Miege.
“They pressed all game,” Treat said. “They didn’t give Miege a lot of space to work with. Miege was actually playing a lot of long balls and it’s been a lot of years since we’ve seen that.”
With Liebl and Davis powering the offense and the defense rounding into form, Treat loves the way his team is playing in the most important games of the season.
Rose Hill is chasing its first state championship since back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015 — and redemption after last year’s heartbreak in the final in a loss to Wichita Trinity.
Rose Hill has taken down familiar rivals along its postseason path — Trinity, McPherson and Miege. To claim the ultimate prize, the Rockets will have to take down a new challenger.
“Baldwin is big, strong and fast,” Treat said. “They’re one of the best teams up in that area, so it’s going to be a dog fight.”
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