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Rural soccer extends win, shutout streaks to eight games with 3-0 decision over Wichita Northwest
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls soccer team continues to build momentum for a strong postseason run, posting a 3-0 shutout non-league victory over Wichita Northwest Thursday night at McElroy Field.
With Thursday's win the Junior Blues pushed their winning streak to eight games, all by shutout.
Washburn Rural celebrates a goal from junior Kate Hinck (9) in Thursday's 3-0 non-league win over Wichita Northwest at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Now 11-2-0, Brian Hensyel's team is currently the No. 1 West seed for the Class 6A playoffs while putting itself in position for another Centennial League championship.
"We did well tonight,'' Hensyel said. "The defense has been really good. We had a couple of losses early (in the season) and some goals given up early but eight straight wins, eight straight shutouts, we're rolling on defense and we're doing the things we want to.
"What we've been working on a lot is moving the ball, keeping possession of the ball and trying to create opportunities and making teams defend us, finishing set plays and that kind of stuff. We created a lot of opportunities tonight and Northwest (8-6-0) made some nice plays to keep us out of the net but we were pretty happy with the game.''
Junior Destiny Higgs scored the game's first goal and also had an assist in Thursday's 3-0 Washburn Rural soccer win over Wichita Northwest. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Junior Blues needed only 5:36 to score the only goal they would need against the Grizzlies, with junior Destiny Higgs finding the back of the net to put Rural up 1-0.
Manhattan pulls away late for 3-0 Centennial League soccer win over Hayden
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Hayden girls soccer team battled a Class 6A power to a draw for 45 minutes and stayed in it to the final minutes, but the Wildcats faded late, falling 3-0 to Manhattan Thursday at Hayden.
The Wildcats and Indians dueled to a 0-0 tie at halftime in the Centennial League contest before a Manhattan goal at 34:36 of the second half put the Indians ahead, but near misses at their offensive end kept up Hayden’s hopes.
The Indians broke the game open with two late goals – at 4:35 and 3:34 – to drop Hayden to below .500 on the season, with the Wildcats falling to 5-6-1 while Manhattan improved to 9-4-1.
“I thought we had some opportunities in the second half, and I thought we were in the game until the last five or six minutes. But then we just rolled over and played dead,” said Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer.
“They’re a good team. I don’t think they’re too good. But at the end of the day, you have to show up and play.”
Hayden plays a gauntlet of 5A and 6A schools plus some of the toughtest teams in the 4-1A classification. Does the challenge boost the girls’ confidence? Or does it break them down?
“It’s a little bit of both,” Kreutzer said. “It wears on them a little bit. It’s tough because of injuries -- we’re a little bit short.
“I think that they realize that they’re getting better. But having said that, sometimes when you play really good competition, it’s tough to play your game. And sometimes they just kind of react.”
With four games remaining on the regular-season slate, the Wildcats will honor their five seniors Friday in a home match with Seaman at 4 p.m.
MANHATTAN 3, HAYDEN 0
Manhattan (9-4-1) 0 3 — 3
Hayden (5-6-1) 0 0 — 0
Manhattan — Goals: Emery Rullifson, Stanley, Booe. Assists: Geisbrecht, Emery Rullifson, Porter. Shutout: Evie Rullifson.
First-teamers McHarg, Jay headline nine Washburn All-MIAA baseball honorees
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's baseball team had nine players earn All-MIAA recognition by the conference on Thursday afternoon, led by first-team picks Payton McHarg and Cash Jay.
Payton McHarg, Washburn University
Cash Jay, Washburn University
McHarg, a junior, is a first-team selection as an outfielder in his first season with the Ichabods. With 20 home runs on the year McHarg is tied for the most in the nation while also batting a team-high .373 with 69 hits and 63 runs batted in.
McHarg is coming off a week which saw him earn MIAA Hitter of the Week honors after hitting .579 with a .704 on-base percentage and 12 runs scored. McHarg played and started in all 48 regular-season games, one of just two Ichabods to do so.
Jay joins McHarg on the first team after his first season at Washburn. He gets the nod as a utility player after hitting .365 on the year. He slugged 13 home runs and a team-high 21 doubles with 56 RBI.
Jay has started 45 of the 48 games he has appeared in, picking up hits in all but seven of them to tie for the team lead with 69. He also made 85 assists on the year in the field.
Cale Savage earns All-MIAA honors for the first time in his career as a member of the second team at first base. Along with McHarg, Savage also played and started in all 48 games this season, hitting .321 and leading the team with 41 walks for a .443 OB%. He hit 12 home runs and drove in 45 total runs while holding a .992 fielding percentage for the year.
Jett Buck joins the second team at shortstop after his junior campaign and first at Washburn. Buck hit .324 on the season and was second on the team with 14 homers for 52 RBI. He played in 45 games, making 44 starts, and was second on the team, stealing eight bases on 12 attempts.
Hayden Priest is a third-team selection in his first season as the Ichabod catcher after transferring for his junior year. Priest was third on the team with a .360 batting average on the season with 62 hits and 55 RBI along with eight home runs. He was successful on the bases, stealing six of seven bases while throwing out nine would be base-stealers from behind the plate.
Washburn had four players earn honorable mention honors with Cooper Carlgren representing the starting pitching staff in his first season with the Ichabods. The Topeka native made 13 appearances, all starts, and threw a team-high 62.1 innings along with 59 strikeouts. He went 4-3 on the year with a 6.64 earned run average.
