5A girls soccer: Aquinas defeats Carroll
TOPEKA Bishop Carroll coach Greg Rauch admitted he didn’t feel extremely upset after his team’s 1-0 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday in the Class 5A girls soccer semifinals.
Aquinas has won four of the past six 5A titles, which is more meaningful than being the tournament’s No. 3 seed this year.
The Saints defeated every opponent it faced during the regular season that doesn’t compete in Class 6A, including a 1-0 victory over Carroll three weeks ago.
“Realistically, I believe we probably lost twice to the state champions,” Rauch said.
It remains to be seen whether or not that prediction will come true, but Rauch spoke positively of his team’s performance after the game. The Eagles return plenty of firepower next year, including its two freshman leading scorers Shelby Lopez and Emily Woods, as well as freshman goalkeeper Jami Richenberger.
“Anybody who watched the game would know that (Aquinas) was better on the offensive end as far as they created far more opportunities than we did,” Rauch said. “Still, I feel like we battled them with everything we had for 80 minutes.”
Freshman Jamie Kutey scored the only goal with 13:06 left in the first half, though Aquinas coach Craig Ewing believes his team had chances to extend its lead.
“We played well in the first half, and I thought we missed three or four opportunities to be on top 2-0 or 3-0,” Ewing said. “We played pretty well for the first 20 minutes of the second half, but I thought we were done after that.”
Both teams saw a decline in offensive production as the game wore on, especially late in the second half. Rauch and Ewing each said that 90-degree temperatures, combined with the artificial turf surface, left players physically drained.
| Aquinas | 1 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Carroll | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
First half—St. Thomas Aquinas, Kutey (unassisted). Shots—Aquinas 10-5—15; Carroll—4-6—10. Saves—Aquinas, Loughman 1-4—5; Carroll, Richenberger 4-4—8.
Mill Valley 5, Hays 0
| Hays | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Mill Valley | 3 | 2 | — | 5 |
First half—Mill Valley, Sieperda, Parke. Second half—Hamner, Hamner, Gibson (Howe).