Kansas high school boys soccer: Rose Hill ends Bishop Miege’s eight-year title run
Nearly a decade has passed since the back-to-back state championships won by the Rose Hill boys soccer team in 2014 and 2015.
Ahead of the Rockets’ highly anticipated state semifinal match on Wednesday, coach Jerry Treat invited a handful of those past championship players to speak to his current team.
“A lot of our players remember when they were little kids and they watched that group win back-to-back titles,” Treat said. “I think they kind of understood that they could set it up for the next generation too.”
Future and past generations of Rose Hill soccer players alike were inspired on Wednesday, as the Rockets prevailed with a 2-0 win over Bishop Miege, the eight-time defending state champions in Class 4-1A, in front of a raucous home crowd.
Not only did Rose Hill snap Miege’s 43-match postseason winning streak, the Rockets (18-1) will now play Trinity Academy (16-4) for the Class 4-1A state championship at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Scheels Stryker Complex in Wichita.
“I’ll be honest with you, they didn’t scare us,” Treat said. “That was part of our game plan: you can’t be intimidated.”
Buoyed by its home crowd, Rose Hill played perhaps its best defensive game of the season led by defenders Josh Grelinger, Cooper Bates and Johnny Leck and goalkeeper Gus Cornejo-Arambula. Treat said the Rockets dominated in the air, as they were able to consistently turn away Miege’s attack.
Both goals were scored by Brady Liebl, who broke a scoreless tie in the 38th minute on a ball played by Rylan Jantzen. Liebl then iced the victory with an empty-net goal in the closing minutes, catching Miege out of position after the Stags were desperately chasing the equalizer.
“It was a packed house and our kids fed off of the crowd,” Treat said. “That’s the good thing about being in a small-town community, you get to play for your town.”
After taking down a giant, Rose Hill will now have a chance for revenge in the state final against a Trinity program that has ended its season the past two years.
While Rose Hill was celebrating at home on Wednesday, Trinity was celebrating on a bus ride home from Baldwin after a 3-1 victory on the road. Like the Rockets, Trinity gave credit to a stout defense led by Brice Wills, Max Jackson, George Deifenderfer and Jude Atkison.
“It all starts in the back for us,” said first-year Trinity coach Andy Hackett, who also led the girls program to a state final in his first season last spring. “We’re loaded with good defenders and we defend really well, then we play really well through the middle of the field. It’s been a good recipe for us.”
Trinity’s offense has been spearheaded by all-state midfielder Cooper Matthews, as well as freshman forward Wyatt Afman, senior forward Landon Hale and senior midfielder Grayson Payne.
After knocking off Rose Hill in a heated penalty-kick shootout last fall, Trinity knows Saturday’s match will be filled with plenty of emotion from both sides.
“I’m sure that left a sour taste in their mouth,” Hackett said. “They’re going to want revenge.”
“Our guys will be ready,” Treat promised.
Kansas high school boys soccer semifinal scores
Class 6A
Dodge City 1, Shawnee Mission West 0
Shawnee Mission East 3, Washburn Rural 0
Class 5A
Blue Valley Southeast 4, Salina South 0
Maize South 3, St. James Academy 2
Class 4-1A
Rose Hill 2, Bishop Miege 0
Wichita Trinity Academy 3, Baldwin 1
KSHSAA boys soccer state final schedule
Note: All games played at Scheels Stryker Complex in Wichita
Class 6A
Third: Shawnee Mission West (15-3-2) vs. Washburn Rural (14-3-3), 4 p.m.
First: Dodge City (20-0) vs. Shawnee Mission East (18-1-1), 4:30
Class 5A
Third: Salina South (17-3) vs. St. James Academy (13-7), 1 p.m.
First: Blue Valley Southwest (20-0) vs. Maize South (18-2), 1:30
Class 4-1A
Third: Bishop Miege (14-4-2) vs. Baldwin (16-2-2), 10 a.m.
First: Rose Hill (18-1) vs. Wichita Trinity Academy (16-4), 10:30 a.m.
This story was originally published November 7, 2024 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Kansas high school boys soccer: Rose Hill ends Bishop Miege’s eight-year title run."
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