By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's soccer team had plenty to celebrate Thursday night at McElroy Field.
First and foremost, the Junior Blues continued their season with a 5-1 regional rout over Wichita Northwest, advancing to next Tuesday's Class 6A state quarterfinals to host Derby (14-4-0), a 2-0 winner over Garden City Thursday night.
Washburn Rural senior Easton Bradstreet scored two goals in Thursday's 5-1 regional win over Wichita Northwest, earning a share of Rural's career scoring record with his 57th goal. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Benett Hallauer advances the ball during Rural's 5-1 regional win over Wichita Northwest as Northwest sophomore Elijah Benning defends. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural, now 15-3-0, dominated Thursday's regional final against Northwest, which had come within an eyelash of tying the Junior Blues in Rural's third game of the season.
"It just shows growth,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "We just told the guys, on Sept. 1st it was an even game that we won at the very end, but probably should have been a tie and over seven or eight weeks we're here with a 5-1 victory.
"We're really young. We've got a lot of young guys playing and now that they've got a whole season under their belt obviously they've kind of turned the corner so I'm proud of them.''
And Thursday was also a big night for Junior Blues senior star Easton Bradstreet, who had a pair of goals and an assist, earning a share of Washburn Rural's career scoring record with former Rural All-American Austin Halsey.
Bradstreet and Halsey are now tied for the career mark with 57 goals while Bradstreet's two goals left him with 29 goals on the season, one behind Halsey's single-season school record of 30.
"It means a lot,'' Bradstreet said of tying Halsey's career record. "It means obviously I've had a really good career, season and everything. I've had really good teammates along the way that have helped me get to this point and it just feels amazing.''
A pair of freshmen put Washburn Rural in front 1-0 at the 19:53 mark of the opening half, with Liam Morrison scoring off an assist from Brandon Hamilton.
Junior Devon Rutschmann scored off a pass from Bradstreet with 9:05 left in the first half to give the Junior Blue a 2-0 halftime advantage.
Bradstreet scored his first goal of the night just 3:46 into the second half off an assist from Rutschmann and Bradstreet converted a penalty pick about five minutes late to give the Junior Blues a commanding 4-0 advantage.
Wichita Northwest, which finished its season 11-6-1, scored its lone goal with 22:07 remaining on a shot from sophomore Elijah Benning before Rural junior Hayden Shriver scored the final goal of the night with one second remaining off an assist from sophomore Wilson Miller.
WASHBURN RURAL 5, WICHITA NORTHWEST 1
Wichita Northwest (11-6-1) 0 1 -- 1
Washburn Rural (15-3-0) 2 3 -- 5
Wichita Northwest -- Goal: Elijah Benning .
Washburn Rural -- Goals: Easton Bradstreet 2, Liam Morrison, Devon Rutschmann, Hayden Shriver. Assists: Brandon Hamilton, Easton Bradstreet, Devin Rutschmann, Wilson Miller.
