4-1A soccer: Trinity Academy falls in final to Topeka Hayden
- 6A girls soccer: Northwest, Maize both tumble
- 5A girls soccer: Aquinas defeats Carroll
- 4-1A girls soccer: Trinity advances in shootout
- 5A girls soccer: Carroll wins by shutout again
- 6A girls soccer: Maize bounces back, beats Northwest for third
- Saturday’s state championship scoreboard
- Gallery: State Soccer Championship Day 2
- Gallery: State Soccer Championship Day 1
ROSE HILL It may have been Friday’s marathon semifinal victory, making Trinity Academy too tired in Saturday’s Class 4-1A girls soccer championship game.
Or it may have been the gusty wind out of the south.
Trinity coach Tom Nykamp acknowledged both, but gave the credit to Topeka Hayden, which won 3-1.
“They’re very organized,” he said. “They just make it hard. When they can win the midfield like that, it limits the opportunities and we don’t get as many. I think that’s a key.”
Trinity was unable to launch many breakaway opportunities. Hayden (14-7) seemed to be able to kick the ball away once Trinity (16-5) entered the Wildcats’ zone.
“They’re tough, they’re physical, they try to win every 50-50 and second ball,” Nykamp said. “I think we were challenging them, it was just they were winning the majority, so it felt like the field was tilted.”
It was the second straight year Hayden beat Trinity, which was making its first championship-game appearance. Hayden won a quarterfinal last year 1-0.
“I think they just make smart runs,” Nykamp said. “They run back more on you, play the perfect pass. You’ve got to have your head on a swivel, and they caught us a couple of times.”
One time the Knights were able to break through was when they scored their only goal. Junior Ashley Burns took a rebound out of a scramble in front of the goal and scored.
Hayden goaltender Sarah Pimentel may have had tired legs of her own. She competed Saturday morning in the Class 4A track meet at Cessna Stadium as a member of Hayden’s 3200-relay team, which took fifth.
Nykamp said the second-place finish doesn’t detract from Trinity’s season.
“I think it’s a great season,” he said. “To make it here, to make it to the championship and to represent Wichita is what we wanted to do, and we wanted to win, but we were just digging deep into our bench and couldn’t get that goal.”
Nykamp said Trinity will be strong again next year.
“We bring back nine starters,” he said, “so I think we’re going to be a force to come back to this game.”
T. Hayden 3, Trinity 1
Championship
| T. Hayden | 1 | 2 | — | 3 |
| Trinity | 1 | 0 | — | 1 |
First half – Hayden, K. Watson (Seitz); Trinity, Burns (unassisted). Second half – Hayden, Barry (Dunshee), Ossello (Vega). Shots – Hayden 1-5—6, Trinity 3-1—4. Saves – Hayden, Pimentel 2-0—2; Trinity, Ruschen 0-3—3.
St. James 8, Tonganoxie 0
Third Place
| St. James | 4 | 4 | — | 8 |
| Tonganoxie | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
First half – St. James, Brophy (unassisted), Mitchell (Kerner), Brophy (Enna), Westhoff (Young). Second half – St. James, Kerner (Reilly), R. Flax (Boucher), Boucher (R. Flax), Westhoff (unassisted). Shots – St. James 8-7—15, Tonganoxie 0-2—2. Saves – St. James, A. Flax 0-1—1; Tonganoxie, Stilgenbauer 3-4—7.