Topeka High favorites; West the underdog

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Nov 2, 2001 by Capital-Journal

State soccer: Nationally ranked Trojans face BV North in 6A semifinals; West (9-9-1) takes on McPherson in 5A

The Capital-Journal

Topeka High has come this far in the soccer postseason mostly because it's Topeka High. If the Trojans are to return to Class 6A state final, though, they'll have to earn it.

Troy is 17-1, ranked 25th in the United States by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the top seed in the semifinals. But its opponent, Blue Valley North, is good beyond its 13-2-4 record.

"I think Blue Valley North is the best team there we could have played," coach Steve Loy said. "I'm not saying Shawnee Mission South and Hutchinson are walkovers, but I think Blue Valley North is the toughest team.

"It should be a great game."

Troy and the Huskies will meet at 5 p.m. today at the Shawnee Mission Soccer Complex, 95th and Nieman Road. Hutch (16-3) and SM South (16-3) will meet in the first semifinal at 3 p.m., with the winners meeting for the state title at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Topeka High has played in four of the last five Class 6A state championship games, but it missed last year after a 1-0 semifinal loss to ... Blue Valley North.

"It was a great game," Loy said. "They had chances. We had chances. They finished one and we didn't. (Former THS coach) Joe Waldron scouted them for me Tuesday, and he said they play exactly like they did last year."

BVN's personnel has changed since last season, but not its style. Unlike Dodge City, which consistently booted the ball as hard and as far as possible in a 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Troy, the Huskies will keep it on the ground and attack crisply.

Their battle-scarred record, Loy said, owes more to their competition than their competency.

"They have the benefit of seeing the heavyweight teams day in and day out," he said. "We don't have some of the bigger matchups."

Not that the Trojans are at a disadvantage. Their schedule includes enough good games, and their postseason experience is extensive enough that they won't be wide-eyed at state. This will be just another battle of heavyweights.

"They're going to move the ball around on the ground and try to find mistakes and seams in our defense," he said. "This is one of the better defenses Topeka High has had, and it'll be real interesting to see how they're going to attack it."

West relishes position

At 9-9-1, Topeka West may not have the shiny 15-4 mark of the McPherson team it will meet in today's 6 p.m. Class 5A State semifinal game at the Goddard Athletic Complex. Then again, West coach Chris McGinnis doesn't really know what to make of either team's records anyway.

"Our record is our record," McGinnis said. "Yes, we did play 10 of our 16 games against 6A teams. We do play a very tough schedule. We're going in as the underdog against McPherson and you'd have to say both Kapaun (Mt. Carmel) and even Blue Valley might be favored over us. The role of underdog serves us well. We're going in with no pressure."

West survived about as pressure-packed a situation as it could envision in Tuesday's regional championship win over Shawnee Heights. The Chargers and city-rival Shawnee Heights battled through two scoreless halves, four scoreless overtime sessions and a dead-even shootout before West prevailed in the second goal-for-goal shootout.

West goalkeeper John Bostwick blocked the final shot after Eric Hower had given the Chargers a 3-2 edge.

"Every game we win just is one more dose of confidence for this team," said McGinnis, whose team had earlier whipped KC Sumner 10-0 and then edged Bishop Miege 2-1 in the playoffs. "We feel confident playing McPherson."

McGinnis admitted that the Chargers had exceeded the expectations he had entering the season. West's trip to the Final Four is the first in school history. The regional finals have been a sticking point, much like it was for the Chargers' girls' team before it broke through last spring and finished as 5A state champions.

Deja vu, anyone?

"Their first game at state was against McPherson, too," McGinnis said. "It sure would be nice if history repeated itself."

Today's other semifinal pits top-seeded Kapaun Mt. Carmel (16-2) against Blue Valley (8-10) at 4 p.m. The consolation game is at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by the title game at 1 p.m.