Game 21: State Finals vs. BV Southwest

30 May at Hummer in State Final vs. BV Southwest (2-1)

Wow. At one time this year we stood 5-3, but here, after claiming our 6th straight state title, we finish the year 18-3, winning 13 straight. 

I am not sure if we have played better this season than we did in the first half of this state final. And yet the score stood at just 1-0, and that was with 2 dynamite plays by freshman Alia Calvert in goal. (Check it out!) I do think that Paige Salts may have equaled her as she saved two balls going in the net by Kristina Colling off the line, the first in a serious acrobatic fashion.

BV Southwest is very good and played very well today. We needed everything we had to claim this one. Those first 20 minutes of the second half up to their nice throw-in-into-a-goal, they definitely had us on our heels.

And part of that everything was Miss Jamie Kutey who closed out her high school soccer career scoring both goals in the state final. For the second straight year she took the ball from Sarah Tyler to score the game-winner against Southwest. (Jamie scored in all but one of her high school post-season games: 19 out of 20; isn't that just nuts?).  What a career, finishing as our all-time leading scorer.

And another part of everything was freshman Alex Moss who had the duty (with some spelling from Linder and Loughman from time to time) of marking out Davis. Phenomenal. Granted by the end of the match  she stood and "could only see yellow highlighter," concussed and searching for the dogpile, but what a wonderful match. 

And everything included Meyers and Holmes at center mid. Crow and Reynolds at centerback with Tyler and Schmidt on the wings all having games to remember. 

Marge played the swing for the first time all year. She created our first goal, keeping that corner kick alive to the 6th or 7th touch. Denning battled well in the underneath position with the help of Colling and Woltering and Kwapiszeski. 

And everything included a great brunch at Newport Grill and an unbelievable Hammons Banner Speech.

And our bench showed up once again as the greatest bench in Aquinas history, just finding nothing but positive energy. 

I will certainly be interested to hear Coach Hammons tell other teams this chapter of STA soccer. It's quite a story.

STATS. First Half: Saints: Shots: 6 (4) Corners: 2 (Kutey 2)

31:45 Kutey (Meyers corner is kept alive by many Saints with the final touch coming from Pigott square one to Kutey's quick shot. A 7-touch Goal! that requires Denning to win the front post)Titus Video

Timberwolves: Shots: 2 (2) Corners: 2

Second Half: Saints: Shots: 6 (3) Corners: 0

14:44 Kutey (Tyler intercepts the clearance and plays the ball back on as Jamie first shields, then fires): Titus Video

Timberwolves:  Shots: 4(2) Corners: 1

21:59 Gonzalez (Throw-in flicked to the middle, feinted in, for the Gonzalez quick shot to side-netting). Titus Video

Special Shoutout to Paige Salts: Check it out!

And sometimes you gotta dog pile.

Assembly Video

KANSAS 5A GIRLS SOCCER

Aquinas makes it six crowns in a row

Saints capture 15th title in school history with a 2-1 victory over BV Southwest.

By CHARLES REDFIELD Special to The Star

TOPEKA | The St. Thomas Aquinas girls soccer team all wore T-shirts with G.R.I.T. on them.

“It means get ready, it’s time,” Saints coach Craig Ewing said.

The Saints were ready Saturday in the Kansas 5A state championship match, scoring early and late in a 2-1 victory over Blue Valley Southwest at the Hummer Activity Center in Topeka.

It is the sixth consecutive state title for the Saints, who finished 18-3 this season, and the 15th in the school’s history.

The game-winning goal came with 14 minutes, 44 seconds to play. The match was tied at 1-1 and the ball was about 5 yards above the penalty box when Aquinas senior forward Jamie Kutey made the most of a scoring opportunity.

“The ball hit off one of their defenders,” Kutey said. “I got between them and put the ball on the far post.”

Kutey had both goals for the Saints after not playing in the first match between the two teams because of an ankle injury. BV Southwest beat the Saints 2-1 in overtime during the regular season.

“It’s an amazing feeling with all the hard work we put in,” Kutey said. Kutey’s first goal came with 31:57 remaining in the first half.

“Someone had a touch in the box,” she said. “I got a foot on it and hoped for the best.”

Freshman goalkeeper Alia Calvert made several saves in the match. She played the entire season with a broken right wrist and had a cast on it.

“I hurt it playing indoor soccer,” she said. “It made me bobble the ball sometimes.”

Calvert was excited about winning state in her first year with the Saints. “I’ve never won something this big,” she said.

BV Southwest dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half after trailing 1-0 at halftime.

The Timberwolves, who finished 18-3, tied the match with 21:59 remaining on a shot by junior Casey Gonzales.

Trailing 2-1, they had a chance to tie the match with 6 minutes left off a corner kick, but a header hit the top of the crossbar and rolled over the net.

“Southwest was really good today,” Saints coach Craig Ewing said. “We had to play well to beat someone who was very good.”

Ewing, whose team had a 7-4 edge in shots on goal, praised the play of freshman Alexandra Moss. She defended Timberwolves senior midfielder Charlotte Davis. “She is what makes them go, and Moss did a great job on her,” Ewing said.

This was the second consecutive year that the two teams have met in the 5A state title match.

Last year, the Saints won 2-1 in overtime on a goal by Kutey. The two schools also played in the championship match in 2011, the first year of Blue Valley Southwest’s existence, and Aquinas captured a 5-0 victory.

Wichita Eagle

Aquinas 2, BV Southwest 1 — Senior Jamie Kutey rifled a shot into the left side of the net in the 66th minute, providing the game-winner in Aquinas' 2-1 victory over Blue Valley Southwest on Saturdayafternoon in the 5A state championship game at Hummer Sports Park.

“You couldn’t write a script better,” Aquinas coach Craig Ewing said. “That’s the way it ends — she wins the state championship again.”

Kutey — the school’s all-time leader in goals and assists — finished her career with a standout performance. The Marquette signee knocked in a shot off a rebound in the ninth minute for the Saints’ first goal, then answered Southwest’s tally in the 59th minute with the 88th score of her career.

“I would say, honestly, she has the greatest soccer legacy in girls soccer history in Kansas. … I don’t know anybody that can put up a legacy like hers,” Ewing said. “The blessing of having her for four years is ridiculous.”

Kutey finished with four state championships and also scored at least one goal in each of her team’s championship games.

“It’s crazy actually,” Kutey said. “I guess I just turn my engines on when I get to the final.”

Kutey’s game-winning goal was assisted by left backer Sarah Tyler — a connection that also provided the game-winner in last year’s 2-1 title victory over Blue Valley Southwest.

Ewing also was pleased with the play of freshman defender Alex Moss, who shadowed dangerous midfielder Charlotte Davis. The freshman Moss battled through physical play that left her with a concussion afterwards.

Aquinas' six consecutive titles are unmatched in Kansas’ girls soccer history.

“You have to be very blessed and lucky,” Ewing said, “and I think we are.”

Third place

Carroll 1, Maize South 0 

(penalty kicks)

Maize South	0 0 0 0 (2)		—	0
Carroll	0 0 0 (3)		—	1

Shutouts — Maize South: Caroline Howard. Carroll: Jami Reichenberger.

Records — Maize South 16-5, Carroll 19-2.