Kansas soccer: Here’s who won Friday’s semis and will play for championships Saturday

Periodic to persistent rain across the state Friday evening didn’t stop the Kansas tournaments for boys high school soccer from producing finalists for Saturday’s championship games ... often in thrilling fashion.

In evening matches at Wichita, Topeka and De Soto, winners of those semifinals advanced to the title games, which are scheduled to take place simultaneously at those same sites at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Here’s the rundown of Friday night’s semifinals.

CLASS 6A

Olathe West 3, Dodge City 2: Playing on an indoor field at the Stryker Complex in Wichita, Olathe West knocked out previously unbeaten Dodge City (19-1-0), sending the defending-champion Owls back to the ultimate match.

Junior Sam DeLong opened the scoring for the Owls (18-2-0) with a header, and goals by seniors Gage Daniels and Braxton Arpachinda rounded it out for Olathe West.

Mill Valley 1, Washburn Rural 0: In the second semifinal at Wichita, the Jaguars (16-1-1) got the only goal they needed in the first half — 38th minute, by Nico Pendleton — to beat Washburn Rural (16-4-0)

Mill Valley will play reigning champion Olathe West for the Class 6A championship at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Stryker facility in Wichita.

CLASS 5A

Maize South 3, St. Thomas Aquinas 2: At Topeka’s Hummer Sports Park, Maize South kept its unblemished season intact Friday thanks to a late strike — just three minutes left — from Ethan Turner.

His goal broke a 2-2 stalemate in the first semifinal and sent the Mavericks (20-0-0) on to Saturday’s finale. Aquinas (8-10-2) will play for third place at noon Saturday.

Blue Valley Southwest 3, Newton 1: The defending-champion Timberwolves are back in the state-title game after beating the Railers in Friday’s later semifinal in Topeka.

BV Southwest (17-3-0) got goals from, in order, sophomore Crew Alvarez, freshman Eli Mick and junior center-back Mike Bernabe and led 2-0 before Newton scored.

Blue Valley Southwest meets unbeaten Maize South for the championship at 2 p.m. Saturday at Topeka’s Hummer Park.

CLASS 4-1A

Baldwin 2, McPherson 1: In another barnburner of a semifinal, Baldwin edged McPherson in the early final-four match at De Soto High’s soccer complex.

Eli Dick scored in the first half and teammate Caleb Carr netted the winner for Baldwin (15-4-1) on a penalty kick with a mere 36 seconds remaining in the game. McPherson dropped into the consolation final for third place with a record of 8-12-0.

Bishop Miege 2, Wichita-Trinity Academy 0: The Stags, the defending Class 4-1A champs, led 1-0 at halftime and doubled that lead after the break.

Miege improved to 14-5-1 with the evening victory at De Soto while Trinity Academy fell into Saturday’s game for third place at 8-10-2.

The Stags will seek to add to their trophy case against Baldwin in De Soto Saturday at 2 p.m.

This story was originally published November 4, 2022 at 8:39 PM.