By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden soccer opened what has all the signs of being a long postseason run Thursday with a 6-1 win over city rival Cair Paravel Latin in a Class 4A-1A regional final at Hayden.
Hayden soccer hoists the Class 4A-1A regional championship trophy after Thursday's 6-1 win over Cair Paravel Latin. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden soccer's seniors are presented the Class 4A-1A regional championship trophy Thursday at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats finished second in 4A-1A a year ago, dropping a double-overtime decision to perennial state champion Bishop Miege in the championship game, and have not lost since, with Thursday's win Hayden's 18th straight on the year, including a first-round regional bye.
"I think we're definitely all very fired up,'' said Hayden senior Carsyn Broxterman, who recorded a three-goal hat trick. "We've had a really great season and we all really, really want it bad.
"I think winning this one will just only push us farther and make us work harder to keep going.''
Hayden, the top 4A-1A West seed, will be back at home Monday, for a 4 p.m. state quarterfinal game against Wichita Trinity Academy (7-7-3), a 5-1 winner over Circle on Wednesday.
The Wildcats took control Thursday with goals from Broxterman and freshman Emma Slyter in the first 2:22 of the game and Broxterman scored her second goal of the game with 21 minutes left before halftime to put Hayden up 3-0.
Cair Paravel senior standout KellyAnn Chada cut the Lions deficit to 3-1 at the half with a goal at the 14:02 mark, but Hayden added three goals after the break as Broxterman finished off her hat trick and the Wildcats also got goals from seniors Reese Huscher and Avey Uhl.
Junior Avery Becker registered two assists for Hayden while Broxterman, Huscher, senior Grace Funk and sophomore Sawyer Wrench also picked up assists.
"I think we played pretty decent,'' Broxterman said. "There's definitely a couple of things that we could have cleaned up, like our passes were a little off and moving the ball overall, but I think we did a pretty decent job.''
As a result of Tuesday's bye Hayden had to wait a little bit longer to open postseason, but veteran Wildcat coach Klaus Kreutzer was pleased overall with Thursday's performance.
"I'd rather play a game (in the first round), but then again we could use the rest,'' Kreutzer said. "We had a good week of practice, so at the end of the day it worked out alright for us. I think what's really good is just playing at home. We've been on the road the last few years.
"(Cair Paravel) kind of packed it in and caused us a little bit of trouble, but having said that, I think we persevered. They were looking just to keep us from scoring and made it a little more difficult, but I thought we played well.''
Cair Paravel, which advanced to the regional final with a 9-6 win over Mulvane on Tuesday, finished its season 6-10-1.
HAYDEN 6, CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 1
Cair Paravel (6-10-1) 1 0 -- 1
Hayden (18-0-0) 3 3 -- 6
Cair Paravel -- Goal: KellyAnn Chada.
Hayden -- Goals: Carsyn Broxterman 3, Emma Slyter, Reese Huscher, Avey Uhl. Assists: Avery Becker 2, Reese Huscher, Carsyn Broxterman, Sawyer Wrench, Grace Funk.
CLASS 6A
WASHBURN RURAL 4, DERBY 2
Defending Clas 6A state champion Washburn Rural is back in the state quarterfinals after a 4-2 road win at Derby on Thursday.
Rural, now 12-6-0, will play a 6 p.m. home quarterfinal game on Monday against Centennial League rival Manhattan (10-7-1), a 3-2 winner over Maize.
The Junior Blues, the No. 5 West regional seed, got goals from sophomore Ellie Vogel, seniors Brecken Murphy and Allie Schroeder and freshman Amelia Nerius en route to the win over No. 4 regional seed Derby (12-7-0).
Rural got a pair of assists from junior Maile Eldridge while junior Khloe Hillmer and senior Emma Wong also contributed assists.
CLASS 5A
DE SOTO 5, SEAMAN 1
Seaman saw its outstanding 2026 season come to an end Thursday night, with the Vikings dropping a 5-1 road decision to United Kansas Conference rival De Soto.
The Vikings finished the season 13-3-2 while De Soto advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 15-1-2 record.
Seaman and De Soto battled to a 1-1 tie in the regular season and shared the UKC championship.
