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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tuesday's non-league boys soccer match between traditional city powers Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights was hard fought all the way through, with Heights playing its best soccer of the night late in the contest.
But both coaches agreed that a goal by Rural senior forward Easton Bradstreet just 1:43 into the game set the tone in the Junior Blues' 3-1 win over the T-Birds at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Washburn Rural senior Easton Bradstreet reacts to his goal 1:43 into Tuesday's soccer game against Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Easton Bradstreet is mobbed by his Washburn Rural teammates after putting Rural up 1-0 Tuesday night against Shawnee Heights in a 3-1 Junior Blue victory. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The game had barely started when Bradstreet found a crease in the Shawnee Heights defense and put the ball in the back of the net to put the T-Birds in chase mode the rest of the night.
"We talk about a fast start,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "Friday night in Wichita we scored two in the first five minutes. Here we get one early, so what it does is you just put somebody from behind the whole game and they're always chasing the game.
"That first goal, really at the end of the day, is the game-winner, It's the difference-maker.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Easton Bradstreet
EASTON BRADSTREET, Washburn Rural
A senior, Bradstreet scored four goals and had two assists as Washburn Rural's soccer team, the Class 6A state runner-up last fall, opened its 2022 season with a 7-1 non-league road romp at Kapaun Mt. Carmel last Friday.
Haley Carpenter
HALEY CARPENTER, Topeka High
Carpenter, who has teamed with fellow senior Adisyn Caryl to earn back-to-back doubles berths in the Class 6A state tennis tournament, opened the 2022 season with the doubles title in last Thursday's Wamego Invitational. Carpenter and Caryl went 4-0 on the day to help lead the Trojans to the team championship.
Adisyn Caryl
ADISYN CARYL, Topeka High
A three-time Class 6A state tennis qualifier, Caryl opened her senior season with the No. 1 doubles championship in last Thursday's Wamego Invitational, teaming with senior Haley Carpenter to post a 4-0 record and help the Trojans win the team championship.
Belle Kennedy
BELLE KENNEDY, Washburn University
Kennedy, a freshman midfielder, scored the first two goals of her college career in Sunday's 7-3 Washburn University women's soccer win at William Jewell, with the former Washburn Rural All-Stater helping the Ichabods improve to 2-0 on the 2022 season.
Devon Rutschmann
DEVON RUTSCHMANN, Washburn Rural
A junior, Rutschmann had a goal and three assists for Washburn Rural soccer, which went 19-1-0 last season, in a 7-1 non-league season-opening road win at Kapaun Mt. Carmel last Friday.
Jalyn Stevenson
JALYN STEVENSON, Washburn University
Stevenson, a sophomore outside hitter from Spring Hill, helped lead No. 2-ranked Washburn University volleyball to a perfect 4-0 record in last weekend's Nebraska-Kearney Fall Classic. Stevenson led the offense with 37 kills and landed 10 service aces. Defensively, she was second on the team in with 29, had seven total blocks and had a .979 reception percentage after receiving 94 out of 96 service attempts.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There were times in Monday's Hayden-Topeka High volleyball dual when the host Wildcats looked to be on their way to a sweep.
But there were also times that the Trojans appeared to be poised to pull out a comeback win before Hayden ended up with a hotly-contested 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22 victory over its Centennial League rival at the Bueltel Activities Complex in the season-opener for both teams.
Hayden sophomore Bella Reid (12) is congratulated by her teammates after making a big play in the Wildcats' 3-1 dual win over Topeka High Monday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We love winning,'' Hayden coach Jim Davis said. "We've got a new squad this year, we're real young. We only have one senior, Jenessa Broxterman, and you saw her tonight, she stepped it up. We gave her the game ball tonight.''
The first set was tied at 20 and 23 before Hayden scored the final two points to take the set.
Hayden jumped out to a 13-5 second-set lead on a block from freshman Kadence Watts and later led 17-8 on kill from Broxterman and 19-10 but Topeka High battled all the way back to within 24-23 before the Wildcats closed out the win.
The third set went back and forth throughout, with Topeka High jumping out 4-0 before Hayden fought back to take a 10-5 lead on a kill from junior Hannah Schmitz.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Now starting his sixth year at Emporia State, former Topeka High standout Corey Thomas is in no hurry to leave a football program he loves.
Former Topeka High standout Corey Thomas returns for Emporia State after leading the Hornets in receiving a year ago. [Photo by Emporia State Athletics]
In fact, it will be several months before the 5-foot-10, 185-pound wide receiver and two-year Hornet team captain makes a final decision on when that departure will come.
Thomas, the Hornets' leading receiver last season, is taking advantage of the extra year of elibility he was granted due to COVID and if he so chooses could return in 2023 for a seventh season due to a season-ending injury in '19 after just three games.
"I'm still about 50-50 on it,'' said Thomas about the possibility of coming back in '23. "I'm entering this year as a senior. I'm going through Senior Day and stuff just in case but it will be an after the season decision for sure.
"Life's coming quick, I'm 23 now, so I've just got some decisions to make after the season.''
Thomas, an All-City quarterback at Topeka High, caught 44 passes for 501 yards and four touchdowns last season for the 6-6 Hornets, earning All-MIAA honorable mention.
Emporia State coach Garin Higgins said that when Thomas is healthy he's among the top receivers in the MIAA.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
LIBERTY, Mo. -- Washburn soccer took to the road for the first time in the 2022 season and came away with a record-tying 7-3 non-conference road win over William Jewell.
Five different Ichabods scored in the game led by two goals each from Jaedyn Johnson and former Washburn Rural All-Stater Belle Kennedy.
Former Washburn Rural star Belle Kennedy scored the first two goals of her college career in Sunday's 7-3 Washburn University soccer win at William Jewell. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn's seven goals tied the program record set two other times, most recently in a 2012 match against Nebraska-Kearney. Washburn also recorded 24 shots in the game, the most in a single game since it took 25 against Missouri Western in 2019. Seventeen of those shots came on goal, the most in a single game since the 2007 season.
William Jewell recorded the first shot of the game before the Ichabods took the next six but were unable to score early on.
Lux Sands
In the 25th minute, the Cardinals got on the board first with a goal into the top right corner of the net from from freshman Lux Sands, a former Topeka High standout who scored her first college goal.
In the 39th minute, Khloe Schuckman got alone on the right side and was able to get a shot just above the goalie's reach to tie the game at one.
