Game 20: State Semi-finals

Vs. Maize at Andover at 5:00, more like 7:45, (3-1)

I will let the newspapers from down here tell the story, but I did want to say Maize is as talented as any other team we have played all year. What Romme, Crow, Linder, Moss and Calvert accomplished, shutting out perhaps the most firepower ever assembled in Kansas in the front third of the field (7.94 Goals a Match), has to be noted, acknowledged, praised (I am not even sure of the right word here.) 

BWhite named Allyiah Calvert the BWhite Player of the Game. She actually saves goals. I do not recall many, if any, performances better in goal in STA soccer history than the one she put on tonight (Check a little bit out). And he gave a huge shoutout to Katelyn Heying (and deservedly so), but honestly we needed all hands on deck for this one. Many players had their BWhite game tonight, and that is why we get to play for a title tomorrow at 2:00. 

Pre-Game Press: Wichita Eagle

Maize (18-0) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (13-4-2) – Maize returns to the semifinals, this time in 5A, for the 12th straight season with the No. 1 attack (143 goals) in Kansas, which has produced at least five goals for the past 17 games. But standing in the way of the Eagles’ first championship is Aquinas, the most prestigious program in the state. Aquinas has won 15 championships, including the last six in Class 5A. The lone common opponent between the two is Maize South, which Aquinas put away 1-0 on the road. Maize trounced the Mavericks 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Kansas City Star: 

Aquinas Eyes No. 7

St. Thomas Aquinas has won six consecutive Kansas Class 5A state championships, and yet it might actually be an underdog in its semifinal matchup, scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at the Andover District Complex.

The Saints, 13-4-2, face unbeaten Maize, 18-0-0, which is ranked No. 4 in the country by Top Drawer Soccer. Maize has scored 30 goals in its three playoff games, and it averages more than seven per game. But Aquinas has allowed only 0.36 goals per game this season, and it’s yet to give one up during the postseason.

Freshman Hallie Klanke leads the Saints with 11 goals and 14 assists. She’s netted two game-winning goals during the playoffs.

Afterward-Game Press:

Catch It Kansas.

St. Thomas Aquinas, who are winners of six straight Class 5A girls' soccer championships, knocked off undefeated Maize 3-1 in Friday night's state semifinals at Andover.

A stifling Saints' defense held a powerful Eagles' offense in check, keeping Makayla Toth, Katie McClure and Ashley Zane off the scoreboard.

Maize will face the loser of Mill Valley and Kapaun in tomorrow's third place game at 12:00 p.m.

Wichitaf

Wi

eANDOVER Maize came into the Class 5A girls soccer semifinals riding high and scoring in bunches.

Wichita Eagle

5A girls soccer: St. Thomas Aquinas hands Maize its first loss in semifinals

ANDOVER Maize came into the Class 5A girls soccer semifinals riding high and scoring in bunches.

But the top-seeded and undefeated Eagles fell 3-1 Friday night to St. Thomas Aquinas, a defensive juggernaut that refused to let Maize’s high scorers get free.

Aquinas, a six-time defending champion, will play the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between Kapaun Mount Carmel and Mill Valley at 2 p.m. Saturday at Andover District Stadium. 

“It was a heartbreaking end to a terrific season,” Maize coach Jay Holmes said.

The start of the first semifinal was delayed 90 minutes by lightning, then interrupted for more than an hour by more storms before the match was 10 minutes old.

That didn’t knock Aquinas off its defensive game that has seen the Saints give up only six goals in 20 games going into Saturday’s championship.

Meanwhile, Maize came in with an offense that had been averaging nearly eight goals. The Eagles’ talented tandem of Katie McClure and MaKayla Toth are the state’s top two goal scorers with 49 apiece.

But Friday night, Aquinas was too much. Saints sophomore goalkeeper Alia Calvert had seven saves on the night.

The Eagles’ only score came off a penalty kick in the first half.

“We had opportunities,” Holmes said, “but we just weren’t able to finish. Defensively, they did a good job of marking McClure and Toth up top.”

Aquinas pushed its lead to 3-1 less than a minute into the second half when Katelyn Heying took an assist from Addison Denning and fired a shot into the goal from about 20 yards away.

Maize’s Hallie Bontrager took over as goalkeeper with 36 minutes remaining in the match and finished with four saves, including a couple in dramatic fashion.

Calvert made numerous nifty saves as the Saints’ goalkeeper.

“Their goalkeeper was athletic and very technical,” Holmes said. “We had four or five opportunities that she thwarted.”

The Eagles’ loss came in their 12th straight year to reach the state semifinals.

“We still have to be proud of what we accomplished,” Holmes said. “Soccer can be cruel.”

In the first half, Maize took five shots. Aquinas, which had scored only 33 goals going into the semifinal, actually attempted one less shot in the first half.

But the Overland Park school connected on half of them – both by freshman Hallie Klanke. She gave the Saints a 2-0 lead 16 minutes into the match.

With an assist from Heying, Klanke shot one into the goal from the right side with 37:07 remaining in the half.

Shortly after a lightning delay of more than hour, Klanke again came from the right side to slip in a second goal with 24:02 to go.

McClure and Toth tried to answer. Very early in the match, McClure’s shot just outside the keeper’s box was forcefully blocked by Calvert.

Maize finally scored on a penalty kick by Kyrsa Krier with 10:08 left in the half. The penalty came after Toth was knocked down by a Aquinas defender.

CLASS 5A

KC Star

St. Thomas Aquinas, the six-time defending champion and a defensive juggernaut, refused to let Maize’s high scorers get free Friday night.

That allowed the Saints to take a 3-1 win over the top-seeded and undefeated Eagles in the 5A semifinals Friday in Andover, Kan.

Aquinas will play Kapaun Mount Carmel, a 1-0 winner over Mill Valley, in the second semifinal, for the title at 2 p.m. today at Andover District Stadium. The third-place game will be at noon.

The Saints got two first-half goals from freshman Hallie Klanke and pushed their lead to 3-1 less than a minute into the second half on Katelyn Heying’s goal.

 

STATS:

First Half: Saints: Shots: 4 (2) Corners: 0

37:07 Klanke (Heying turns upfield to find Klanke's feet)

24:02 Klanke (Romme hits the long free kick that is miscleared to Klanke)

Eagles: Shots: 5 (2) Corners: 1

10:08 Krier (PK as Toth knocked down in box by Linder) 

Second Half: 

Saints: Shots: 5 (3) Corners: 6 (Klanke 3, Linder, Woltering, K. Heying)

39:37 K. Heying (Denning chips it forward)

Eagles: Shots: 6 (4) Corners: 0

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/high-school/article79946622.html#storylink=cpy