Bishop Miege boys soccer wins, advances to Class 4A-1A, but De Soto falls in penalty kicks

The Bishop Miege boys soccer team is looking for a repeat after beating Ottawa 4-1 in the Class 4A-1A semifinals on Friday.

The Stags will be looking for a second 4A-1A state title and third consecutive overall when they meet Rose Hill on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Bonner Springs.

The Stags, who won the 5A title in 2012, are now 9-1 in state semifinal matches.

“We saw them in the regional final and knew that we had to get off to a good start,” coach Joe Huppe said of Ottawa.

The Stags scored with 20:29 left on a header by junior Andrew Jezak and added a second goal at the 15:51 when sophomore Thomas Pace’s shot was mishandled by the Ottawa keeper and into the net.

Pace added another with 32:32 remaining in the second half.

Ottawa got its only goal on a breakaway by senior Connor Stepp at the 25:30 mark.

The Stags got their last goal by senior Christian Foster off a corner kick with 14:01 left in the contest.

Miege had an 18-1 advantage in shots on goal and corner kicks.

Looking toward the championship match, Huppe said, “They had nine seniors returning and we just have four. It should be a good game with both teams having good defenses and goalkeepers.”

Rose Hill 3, De Soto 2 (PK)

DeSoto came from behind twice in regulation, but lost in penalty kicks.

The Wildcats trailed 1-0 at halftime, but tied the match on a breakaway goal by senior forward Stephen Mitchell with 26:06 left in second half.

The Rockets took the lead after a penalty just outside the box. Junior Chace Beckham’s kick hit the wall and rebounded to junior Chance Beckham who found the back of the net with 19:27 left.

The Wildcats scored with just 1:48 left on a left-footed shot from about 12 yards out by senior Glynn Leininger.

The two teams were scoreless in the two 10-minutes overtimes and then two additional five-minute overtime periods sending the match to penalty kicks.

Going into the 10th round of penalties, it was tied.

Rockets’ senior goalkeeper Geoffrey Stitcher took the 10th penalty and made it.

Then he stopped the attempt by Leininger for the victory and a spot in the championship match.

This story was originally published November 7, 2014 at 11:08 PM.