KC Star Summary Article

6 June 2015

Aquinas soccer coach: Tradition plays a role in state title

By KATHLEEN GIER kgier@kcstar.com

With just a 5-3 record eight matches into the spring season and battling injuries, the St. Thomas Aquinas girls soccer team looked like a distant contender to win a sixth consecutive state championship.

However, as history has proven, coach Craig Ewing and his Saints are never to be counted out.

St. Thomas Aquinas won its next 13 matches, including last Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Eastern Kansas League foe Blue Valley Southwest and won the Kansas Class 5A state title at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka.

The Saints finished their season 18-3, with only one loss in Eastern Kansas League play to Blue Valley Southwest, which Aquinas avenged in the state championship.

“In the final four we faced two really good teams, so to see the girls be successful in that kind of environment makes you even more proud,” Ewing said. “Both games were battles.”

Ewing credited the turnaround in part to Caroline Romme, who was moved up from junior varsity at the beginning of the season. Offensively, Romme helped provide some balance for Marquette signee Jamie Kutey.

“Most of the teams surround Jamie all the time, so it brought some attack to the other side of the field and gave her some space,” Ewing said. “The way Romme played out there helped some of our other girls — who had been playing before — get better. She didn’t play the last three games because she got hurt against Blue Valley Northwest, but by then I think she ended up improving that whole position for us.”

Defensively, the Saints returned every player except their goalkeeper and eventually found a replacement in freshman Allyia Calvert. They allowed just one goal in the playoffs and only three in their final eight games of the season. Overall, they had 11 shutouts.

Ewing said he thinks the program’s history of success helped drive them back to the state championship match.

“You would think it might be almost intimidating, but it makes them focus and gives them high expectations,” Ewing said. “They may say that they don’t like the pressure during the season, but in the end they play better because of it.”