Blue Valley Northwest wins 6A title in penalty kicks

Blue Valley Northwest senior goalkeeper Connor Mathes had only imagined defending penalty kicks in a high-leverage situation like Saturday’s Kansas Class 6A state championship game.

In fact, he had never defended penalty kicks in a game, period.

However, the week of practice leading up to the state tournament had him prepared for the task, and he helped the Huskies defeat Washburn Rural with a 6-5 advantage in penalty kicks after playing to a 2-2 tie. They played 110 minutes of regulation and overtimes before going to penalty kicks to win their second title in three seasons.

“It was amazing having the first one come in a state championship game,” Mathes said. “I am so proud of this team.”

Brandon Stanczak, Blake Shadwick, Peyton Brown, Matthew Carey, Noah Fetter and Jordan Stenberg did their part on offense, each sinking a penalty kick past the Washburn Rural goalkeeper.

Carey gave the Huskies an early lead with a goal in the 18th minute. It came off an assist from Brian Kim.

They held that lead until halftime when Washburn Rural came back to the field with an equalizer in the 41st minute. Brayden White scored off an assist from Joah Hickel, who later left the game with a lower leg injury and did not return.

The Junior Blues took the lead moments later with a second goal from White. The ball bounced around and Mathes was drawn out of the net before White sent a shot into the bottom left corner.

Kim ended the Washburn run with an equalizer in the 67th minute. It was his second goal of the tournament. The teams then played through two 10-minute overtime periods, two five-minute periods and 14 penalty kicks.

“This is heaven, it doesn’t get any better than this,” Huskies coach Rick Pribyl said. “I am so excited for the boys because they have worked so hard. It is a neat group and they have led the team, not the coaches.”

The Huskies finish the season with a 19-1-0 record. Their only loss came against Class 5A runner-up St. Thomas Aquinas at the Top Dawg Tournament in late September.

Dodge City 4, Olathe East 1

Olathe East battled through a scoreless first half and took a lead early in the second, but gave up four unanswered goalsin the Kansas Class 6A third-place match.

Junior forward Julien Denis scored the Hawks’ lone goal in the 54th minute on a free kick that he curled just inside the right post.

The Hawks, who were defending champions, finish the season with an 18-3-0 record.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 8:50 PM with the headline "Blue Valley Northwest wins 6A title in penalty kicks."