Welcome to Top Sports News
Ichabods two wins away from college soccer's ultimate prize
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Before the 2025 season ever started, Washburn University soccer coach Davy Phillips knew his Ichabods had the potential to field a good team this fall.
Washburn soccer celebrated after last Saturday's 3-2 Elite Eight road win over Missouri-St. Louis. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"From the very beginning we talked as a team that the purpose and the goal of the team was to maximize our potential,'' Phillips said. "And I think the potential in this group has always been there, it was just working to maximinze that.''
And early in the conference season, the Ichabods discovered they could be really, really good.
"Out of conference play you're kind of still figuring out the groove of the team, and the strengths and the weaknesses of each individual player, but by the time conference started and we tied (Central Oklahoma) and beat (Central Missouri), we were on a roll,'' said senior midfielder Belle Kennedy, the MIAA defensive player of the year and a third-team All-American. There was nothing stopping us once we found our chemistry.''
Washburn freshman Leah Henke, the conference freshman of the year, agreed.
"Coming out first game (of conference) we tied UCO and I think we played really, really good that game,'' Henke said. "And then we beat UCM off of (Mackinly Rohn's) goal very late in the game and it was like, 'Wow, we've got something really special here. We've got everything we need to go far.' ''
And now Washburn, which is in the NCAA Division II Final Four for the second time in three seasons, is just two wins away from being the best.
"We just keep getting better and better and I think we can go all the way,'' Henke said. "I've felt it from the beginning of the tournament. I think we've just got to play our game, stick to our game model and do what we do best.''
"The cool thing about is the group is I still feel like we're growing,'' Phillips said.
Now 14-3-6 on the season, No. 1 seed Washburn will take on No. 4 seed Franklin Pierce in a 4 p.m. (Central time) national semifinal Thursday in Colorado Springs.
Washburn advanced to the Final Four with a 3-2 road win over Missouri-St. Louis last Saturday in the Elite Eight.
Henke scored the game-winning goal against the Tritons, recording her 12th goal of the season to moved her into fourth place in program history for goals in a single season.
"I didn't really expect all of this to happen, but I'm thankful for it,'' Henke said.
Washburn soccer displayed its NCAA Final Four sign after last Saturday's 3-2 win over Missouri-St. Louis. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Shaye Taylor and Aubrey Tanksley scored Washburn's first two goals against UMSL while Ichabod freshman goalkeeper Lili Everley came up with five saves and now has 64 saves on the year with a save percentage of 82 percent.
Monday HS roundup: Rural, High girls split tourney openers; CPLS boys top Lyndon
By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls began their 2025-2026 basketball season Monday in the De Soto Hardwood Classic, taking a 46-36 win over Shawnee Mission East.
The start of a new season always brings new faces and new challenges. For the Junior Blues, this season is definitely the case with five freshmen seeing the court on opening night. Along with the five freshmen, there are two juniors and three seniors who provide experience to the young roster. One noticeable absence on opening night was All-State junior Maddie Vickery, who suffered a knee injury over the summer and hopes to return later this season.
Washburn Rural started the game with an 8-0 run, led by junior Brooklyn Rutherford’s five points and senior Ella Hirschi’s 3-pointer. SM East was overwhelmed by Rural’s pressure defense, leading to seven turnovers in the first quarter alone.
SM East was finally able to get on the board with a free throw by junior Lauren Mercer almost five minutes into the game. Rural continued to pressure the Lancers and led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter.
As the second quarter began, SM East was able to adjust to the defensive pressure and outscored the Junior Blues 6-2 over the first five minutes of the second stanza. Both teams traded baskets and Washburn Rural went to the locker room with a 17-13 lead.
The start of the second half mimicked the start of the game, where Rural doubled their lead over the first four minutes of the third quarter, leading 23-15 on buckets by Rutherford, senior Josie Carlgren and freshman Brynn Anderson. The Junior Blues maintained the eight point lead going into the final quarter, leading the Lancers 28-20.
Another 8-0 run to begin the fourth quarter gave Rural their largest lead of the game, 36-20. Carlgren and Hirschi both knocked down 3-pointers and Anderson scored on a pretty spin move in the lane. Both teams had their highest point totals in the fourth quarter with the Junior Blues outscoring the Lancers, 18-16, accounting for the final score of 46-36.
Washburn Rural was led Anderson’s 13 points and five rebounds. Carlgren had eight points and four steals, Rutherford scored seven and senior Hallie Walker scored two points, grabbed six rebounds and had three assists.
SM East was led by senior Talia Augustine’s seven points and five rebounds. Senior Fina Kessler dropped in six points and fellow senior Paige Stanfield also scored six along with eight rebounds.
Washburn Rural advances to the semifinal round on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. where it will face the host school, De Soto, a 55-35 first-round winner over Olathe Northwest.
WASHBURN RURAL 46, SM EAST 36
SM East 5 8 7 16 -- 36
Washburn Rural 13 4 11 18 -- 46
SM East 36 (0-2) -- Kessler 2-5 0-0 6, Eck 1-3 0-0 2, Stanfield 3-13 0-0 6, Kroening 2-4 0-0 5, Reiser 1-4 0-4 2, Beltrame 1-1 0-0 3, Mercer 0-1 3-4 3, Tilgner 0-0 2-4 2, Augustine 1-1 5-8 7, Zahner 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-33 10-20 36.
Washburn Rural 46 (1-0) -- Rutherford 3-5 0-0 7, Hirschi 4-6 0-0 11, Walker 0-1 2-2 2, Anderson 5-18 2-2 13, Carlgren 3-11 0-0 8, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Frost 0-0 0-2 0, Hinck 0-4, 0-2 0, Munson 0-2 1-2 1, Petersen 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-51 5-10 46.
3-point goals -- SM East 4 (Kessler 2, Beltrame, Kroening), Washburn Rural 7 (Hirschi 3, Carlgren 2, Rutherford, Anderson). Total Fouls -- SM East 11, Washburn Rural 21. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.
Trojans fall to Northwest in OT, 64-60
Topeka High opened the De Soto Hardwood Classic with a Monday contest against Shawnee Mission Northwest, dropping a 64-60 decision in overtime.
No. 3-ranked Hayden girls improve to 4-0 with 61-37 romp past Basehor-Linwood
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- The Hayden girls continued their busy start to the 2025-2026 basketball season with a fourth straight win Tuesday in the opening round of the Paul Terry Classic, with the Wildcats rolling past Basehor-Linwood, 61-37.
Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein (2) scored a game-high 22 points with three 3-pointers in Tuesday's 61-37 Hayden win over Basehor-Linwood in the opening round of the Paul Terry Classic. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden sophomore Blakely Walter (1) scored 16 points Tuesday as the Wildcats improved to 4-0 with a 61-37 win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And while playing six games in the opening two weeks of the season doesn't leave much time for practice, Wildcat coach Carvel Reynoldson is happy with the progress his team has made in the early going.
"After our first game (at Pittsburg Colgan last week) I know I wished that we had more practices, but we had to play two more,'' Reynoldson said. "We kind of worked things out during those games and I think I like (the busy stretch). You learn a lot about your team.''
Reynoldson thought his Wildcat took another step forward in Tuesday's win.
"What we always talk about is that energy and effort are the things you can control all the time and I thought our energy and effort were great, so I'm satisfied,'' Reynoldson said.
"I think we've taken some steps with moving the ball on offense and getting ourselves some pretty good looks.''
Hayden, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, went wire to wire Tuesday against the Bobcats, scoring the opening five points of the game and opening up a commanding 22-9 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
The Wildcats went on to take a 33-16 cushion to the locker room at halftime and put the game out of reach with a 16-9 third quarter before both teams scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore standouts Hailey Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter combined for 38 points to power Hayden, with Schmidtlein scoring a game-high 22 points with three 3-pointers while Walter added 16 points with a pair of 3s.
