Salina South stuns St. Thomas Aquinas in 5A soccer final

Two teams. Two completely different soccer programs.

First, the well-established power of 5A: St. Thomas Aquinas. The two-time defending state champions. The team everyone wants to knock off.

Then you have Salina South. A team that’s never played in a soccer state-title game, battling tooth and nail with the class of Kansas.

And scrappy Salina South continued to grind, which lead to two dramatic goals and a 3-2 state-title win Saturday over the Saints at Hummer Sports Complex.

The first one came off a header by senior David Palacios with 29 second remaining to tie the game. The Saints had moved back to protect its one-goal lead, but just could not clear the ball.

“We should have closed that out,” Aquinas coach Craig Ewing said. “All you do is kick the ball long and you collect there. They’re very skilled and we opened up the door for them.”

The Cougars showed off their skill once more when they scored the game-winning goal by senior Jose Escobedo that sent the Salina South crowd into a frenzy.

“This has been the group of seniors has taken the program to the level it is at right now,” coach Dave Ouderkirk said. “These kids never stop believing and they never stop working.”

For most of the game, Aquinas dominated possession and put the pressure on Salina South with its physicality and experience.

St. Thomas got on the board late in the first half when Zachary Schneller used his size and strength to outjump a Salina South defender and head in a goal.

But the key goal for Aquinas was the cross Lucas Bartlett headed into the net from an excellent pass from the other side of the field. That gave the Saints the 2-1 lead.

“It was a confidence booster,” Bartlett said. “It was a huge for everyone on the team. The morale was up big time after that.”

Although it was another successful season for Aquinas, the only real sign of victory for this program is championships. The players and coaches know that, which is why losing the top spot is difficult.

“The most disturbing thing was we’re the ones with experience,” Ewing said. “We’re the ones that can close out games and we didn’t do that.”

Still Ewing looked at this group, particularly seniors like Bartlett and Tyler Stoecklein, as examples for the remaining varsity players to get back to this game in 2016.

“This group is funny, we had a good time at practice and it’s the teams like that you feel closest too that you really want them to have the success,” he said.

Andover 0, Blue Valley Southwest 0 (Andover wins 4-2 in penalty kicks)

In the third-place game of 5A, Blue Valley Southwest dominated the possession and chances to win the game. However a few offsides calls and four overtimes contributed to the Timberwolves being unable to overcome Andover in penalty kicks.

After a solid season in the East Kansas League and making it to the state playoffs, BV Southwest finished with a 15-6 record.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 8:39 PM with the headline "Salina South stuns St. Thomas Aquinas in 5A soccer final."