State Semi-Finals

Game 20: (8-10-2)
4 November vs. Maize South at 5:00 at Hummer (2-3)

Boys Stats

We took on undefeated, 19-0, Maize South in the State Semi Finals. They had beaten us last year in the same game, 2-1.

Well this year we fell in just a thriller of a  match, 3-2. It was a match that it looked as if we were about to win, then not, then perhaps, then not, but wait, no. 

We went with a double “6,” with Weisner and Garcia, holding them to nil for the first 66 minutes. Then we lost our centerback,  John Weinrich, to an injury for the rest of the match. They put 3 in on us in the next 10 minutes. (So yes, John was kind of an important piece of that plan.)

To the boys credit, we came back to tie it up quickly after they went ahead, 2-1. But we allowed one of their known-for counters to make the final score. 

Despite with only about three minutes remaining after their go-ahead third goal, we got 2-3 excellent chances after that. With only 20 seconds left Drew Weisner saved a ball from going out of bounds with a pass to Liam who beat one to cross it through a Consuegra dummy for an almost goal back post. It was remarkable. Check it out!

The Mavericks were very talented in their front 3-4, as advertised, so to see our boys execute our seldom-played system so well for so long was what a coach just loves to see. 

We basically had to contend with a very direct attack from their back line as they looked to get the ball forward to those talented front players. We played very well for most of the match, battled back when we needed it most, but in the end, we just did not get it done. 

We only have one more match together, and it will be tough to say goodbye to such a talented and first-class group of young men. 

I think all of the coaches just love this team, and will hate to feel the 2022 season steaming to an ending. 

STATS:

First Half: 

Saints: 4(2) Corners: 2 (Swags, Ryan)

3:24 Young (Bobby's long throw gets put back-on by Gabe, touched forward by Muck before Ryan runs it down and zips the t-ball to back post)

Mavericks: 2 (1) Corners: 6

Second Half:

Saints: Shots: 3 (2) Cornets: 0

12:01 Swags (Kitts free kick first is headed by Murray before Ethan heads it across for the outside-of-the-foot shot)

Mavericks: Shots: 3 (3) Corners: 2

13:52 Geromel (is tripped in the box for the game-tying PK after the long-free kick moves past our strong side defenders) PK Build

12:46 25 (11 head-flciks in the long free kick)

3:11 Turner (Cole makes the save off the head-flick, then quickly hits a half volley out to Turner who drives to the top of the box)

Wichita Eagle write-up:

Ethan Turner had just scored the goal of his life to send the Maize South boys soccer team to the state championship game, and it felt like an out-of-body experience. He remembers absolutely booming a shot from the edge of the box, remembers seeing the ball force its way past the keeper’s touch and into the back of the net, remembers celebrating in pandemonium in front of the Maize South supporters who traveled to Hummer Sports Park in Topeka to watch a Class 5A quarterfinals match in the rain on Friday night.

 “It all felt like it was fake,” Turner said. “It still feels like it was fake.”

Maize South coach Rey Ramirez was also still in disbelief an hour after his team’s 3-2 win over St. Thomas Aquinas. After all, it’s not every day you see a goalkeeper make a save, bomb a side volley 70 yards down field and then watch a substitute right winger line it up waiting for the right bounce to rocket it into the back of the goal. 

Ramirez isn’t sure he’s ever seen a goalkeeper assist at Maize South, let alone one in the biggest moment of the season that was produced by Andrew Cole, the keeper who made the pass, and Turner, the one who finished off the highlight-reel play. “We all lost it on the sidelines,” Ramirez said. “The ball was struck by Ethan with so much power and so much assertiveness, it was so exhilarating. I don’t really have the words to describe the feeling. All I know is I went lightheaded for a couple of minutes in the celebration.”

With the brilliance of the game-deciding goal, it’s almost hard to remember what proved to be an exhilarating final 15 minutes of regulation that saw four goals and Maize South erase a 1-0 deficit. The Mavericks tied the score on a Vitor Geromel penalty kick in the 66th minute, then actually took a 2-1 lead minutes later when Dillon Gorman scored on a set piece with his head on a looping ball in from Gavin Bowman. “There was so much excitement and pressure and intensity, but our boys knew that it was going to come down to very minor details that were going to determine the outcome of the game,” Ramirez said.

Before Maize South’s side could even finish celebrating, Aquinas found the equalizer with only minutes left, which made extra time seem inevitable. That is until Cole decided to launch a punt down the right side of the field following a routine save. Turner knew he was open, but wasn’t sure his keeper saw him. Instincts took over once the ball was played. “It was such a perfect ball he played and perfectly paced,” Turner said. “The bounces it took were actually perfect, and I was just waiting for that last perfect bounce before I was going to take a rip

“As soon as I shot it, my heart dropped because I knew that I hit that shot perfectly. It was an amazing feeling. It was a feeling I’ve never felt before.” Maize South advanced to its fourth state championship match in the last five seasons. The Mavericks lost in their previous three appearances all to the same team: Blue Valley Southwest (6-0 in 2018, 6-1 in 2019 and 3-2 in 2021). With BV Southwest in the other semifinal playing after Maize South, there was no question who the Mavericks wanted to see in Saturday’s 2 p.m. championship game.