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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Freshman Camilo Garcia scored three goals and assisted on another as the Topeka West boys soccer team earned an 8-0 United Kansas Conference win over visiting Basehor-Linwood on Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park.
The host Chargers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, with Morris Blick finishing off a deflected shot attempt to put Topeka West up 1-0 less than one minute into the game.
The Chargers’ attack continued to apply pressure to the Bobcats’ defense, but goalkeeper CJ Pate continued to turn away attempt after attempt.
Topeka West finally broke through in the 29th minute when Diego Gonzalez-Talavera’s cross found a wide-open D’Ante Smith Dilone’ on the opposite post, who took advantage of the golden opportunity to put the Chargers up 2-0.
Garcia would begin his career night in the 33rd minute, scoring his first goal of the evening off a pass from senior defender Jafet Rodriguez to extend the Charger lead.
Garcia added a second goal in the same minute, finding the back of the net from a pass by classmate Neko Juarez.
The Chargers continued their offensive surge in the 37th minute, with Garcia facilitating fellow freshman Valentin Del Real’s goal to put Topeka West up 5-0, a lead the Chargers would take into halftime.
Topeka West attempted 29 shots in the first half, with 20 coming on goal.
The second half started almost as quickly as the first, with Giancarlo Valenzuela finding Gonzalez-Talavera in the center of the box to give the Chargers their sixth goal less than two minutes into the second half of play.
With the Chargers still dominating control of the ball, Garcia finished off his hat trick with a strike set up by Gonzalez-Talavera, giving the sophomore his second assist of the night.
In the 56th minute, Valenzuela decided to get in on the scoring, taking a pass from Jacob Corwin and launching a long-range shot into the back of the Bobcat net, putting an end to the match.
Topeka West took 40 shots in the contest, with 26 being on target.
Gonzalez-Talavera led the offensive output with nine shots, while Smith Dilone’ had seven attempts.
Pate recorded 18 saves in net for the Bobcats.
Despite the dominant performance, Topeka West coach Josh Kutter wants his team to always keep their guard up.
“We’re working on staying focused one game at a time,” Kutter said. “No matter who we’re playing against, we need to be playing our best soccer.”
With Garcia leading a group of seven underclassmen in the starting lineup, Kutter feels optimistic about the Chargers going forward.
“(Garcia has) always been a very talented player coming in for us, and he’s part of a very talented group,” Kutter said. “Expectations for those guys is just keep working hard, keep doing what they’re doing, and they’re going to do big things.”
Topeka West will have a short turnaround, playing city rival Topeka High on Thursday at Hummer Sports Park.
The Trojans, winners of nine straight, pose a challenge, but Garcia embraces it.
“We just have to train and rest,” Garcia said. “That game is going to be a tough game, but we should be able to win.”
TOPEKA WEST 8,BASEHOR-LINWOOD 0
Basehor-Linwood (0-9-0) 0 0 – 0
Topeka West (5-2-0) 5 3–8
Topeka West -- Goals: Blick, Smith Dilone’, Garcia 3, Del Real, Gonzalez-Talavera, Valenzuela. Assists: Gonzalez-Talavera 2, Rodriguez, Juarez, Garcia, Valenzuela, Corwin.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coming off a tough 2-1 non-league loss at Hayden on Monday, Seaman's struggles continued over the opening 12 minutes-plus of Tuesday's home United Kansas Conference contest against Shawnee Heights, with the Vikings spotting the T-Birds an early 2-0 advantage.
Junior Kaelon Taylor scored just before halftime to put Seaman in front 4-2 on the way to a 6-3 UKC soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman senior Bradley Williamson attempts to control the ball in Tuesday's 6-3 UKC soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Seaman got things turned around in a hurry, scoring four straight first-half goals on the way to a 6-3 league triumph, improving to 6-3-0 overall and 4-1-0 in the UKC while handing Shawnee Heights its first league defeat.
Viking senior Kaelin Loy, who contributed two goals an an assist said getting right back in action was a good way to bounce back from Monday's disappointing loss.
"It was very disappointing because that's an in-town rival, but I think it was good that we came back right away,'' Loy said. "We were angry and we were hungry for a win and to play Heights right after was really nice.''
Shawnee Heights junior Camden Granado (6) scored a goal in Tuesday's 6-3 UKC loss to Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights (3-4-0, 3-1-0) needed barely a minute to get on the scoreboard with a goal from junior Jason Slay and the T-Birds made it a 2-0 game at the 27:17 mark of the opening half on a goal from junior Camden Granado.
But that seemed to be the wakeup call that Seaman was looking for, with the Vikings needing just 52 seconds to get on the board with a goal from senior Blake Toyne.
Senior Logan Townsend tied things up at the 14:33 mark and Loy broke the tie with the first of his two goals on the night with 3:34 left in the half before junior Kaelon Taylor ended the first-half scoring onslaught at the 1:42 mark.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Hayden fell short in their bids for the Centennial League girls golf championship Monday at Shawnee Country Club, with Manhattan successfully defending its league title.
But the Junior Blues and Wildcats both carded season-best team scores en route to second and third-place finishes and both Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring and Hayden coach Jayson Duncan felt like Monday was a step forward for their teams with postseason rapidly approaching.
Washburn Rural posted a four-person score of 319, five strokes behind Manhattan, with five Junior Blues scoring between 76 and 83 and finishing in the top 11.
Washburn Rural senior Reece Randall tied for third place in Monday's Centennial League tournament, helping lead the Junior Blues to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Natalie Peterson tied for sixth in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Reece Randall paced the Junior Blues with a a tie for third, shooting a 76, while senior Natalie Peterson tied for sixth (78), senior Colbey Stead placed 10th (82) and junior Lauren Cox and sophomore Kailyn Petersen tied for 11th place (83).
"Overall, it was a good day,'' Goehring said. "It was our lowest team score of the year and that's what you want to be doing this time of year. We had five girls all at 83 or better today and that's what we're going to need more of going into postseason in a week.''
Hayden junior Lauren Borjon finished second in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament, helping the Wildcats finish third as a team. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, the defending Class 4A state champion, finished five strokes behind Washburn Rural at 324, led by junior individual runnerup Lauren Borjon, who shot a 75 to finish three strokes behind individual champion Maddie Myers of Manhattan.
"It was good,'' Borjon said of her round. "It started off a little bad, but I finished really strong, and the team played good.
"I think we've come together a lot. I think we're definitely getting a lot closer and the scores are starting to get a lot closer and we're all starting to play really well.''
Hayden senior Addyson Baer posted a fifth-place individual finish in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats also got a fifth-place finish from senior Addyson Baer (77) while junior Izzy Glotzbach tied for eighth (80).
"There's not a lot of teams in this, but there's a lot of quality,'' Duncan said. "You throw us and Rural and Manhattan in a tournament and there's some good things. We played really well and came up a little short, but it's a good sign of things to come.''
Rural's Randall put herself in position to challenge for the individual title most of the day before being derailed by a triple bogey, but still finished just a stroke behind Borjon, tying Emporia junior Elise Eckert for third place, and was happy with the way she battled throughout her round.
"I think I played really well today,'' Randall said. "I think I stayed positive even after that bad hole because I didn't let that snowball. I went to the next hole and I parred. I feel like that was kind of how I was all day. I didn't let a bad hole affect me, I just moved on.''
Randall was also proud with how the Junior Blues played as a team.
"We just put up our lowest team score, which is super exciting,'' Randall said. "Our team goal is to have four counting scores under 85 and we definitely accomplished that today.''
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE GOLF
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Alex Baxter
ALEX BAXTER, Topeka West
A senior golf standout, Baxter shot an 87 to win her first United Kansas Conference individual championship last Tuesday at Lakw Shawnee after finishing third in the conference tournament as a sophomore and second as a junior. Baxter's UKC title came a day after Baxter shot an 88 to tie for eighth place in the city championships.
Maegan Mills
MAEGAN MILLS, Seaman
The Seaman senior was voted the Most Valuable Player in Saturday's seven-school Seaman Invitational volleyball tournament after helping lead the Vikings to the team championship with a perfect 6-0 record. Mills helped Seaman, the defending Class 5A state champion, win all six of its matches in the round-robin event in straight sets as the Vikings improved to 21-1 on the season.
Ryin Miller
RYIN MILLER, Seaman
A junior cross country star, Miller won her fourth individual championship in as many starts this fall on Saturday, posting a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 14.1 seconds to win the Gold Division title in the prestigious multi-state Rim Rock Classic at Rim Rock Farm, north of Lawrence. Miller topped two-time Class 5A state champion Katelyn Rupe of Salina Central by just over three seconds (17:17.4).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With the exception of a six-goal win, Washburn University soccer had found it to be a challenge to put the ball in the net over its first seven games of the 2024 season, with the Ichabods failing to score more than more than two goals in six starts and being held without a goal in three contests.
Washburn senior Ana Muruzabal scored a pair of goals in Sunday's 3-0 MIAA win over Newman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn junior Aubrey Tanksley (9) is congratulated by her teammates after scoring the first goal in Sunday's 3-0 Ichabod win over Newman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But the Ichabods showed signs of an offensive resurgence in Sunday's 3-0 MIAA home win over Newman while continuing to excel on the defensive end.
Senior Ana Muruzabal keyed Washburn's offense with a pair of second-half goals while the Ichabods never trailed after getting a goal from junior Aubrey Tanksley at the 36:13 mark of the opening half as WU improved to 4-2-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the conference.
"In our pregame talk I said we've got to be committed to the long process in this game and it may take us 60 minutes before we get a goal,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said. "We're the better team and you just have to keep doing the right things.
"Getting the goal before half helped a little bit, it took a little bit of that edge off. We had 23 shots, so it was coming. We have to be more clinical up front. That's something we've got to get right before the heart of conference and playoffs, but foundationally speaking we are in a really good place. It's figuring out that very last detail now.''
And while Washburn was able to get its offense cranked up against the Jets (0-7-1, 0-2-0), the Ichabods made program history on the the other end of the field.
With Sunday's win, Washburn has now recorded six shutouts in a row and has set a school record for consecutive minutes played without allowing a goal.
The Ichabods have kept opponents off the scoreboard for 568 minutes and 44 seconds, dating back to the 62nd minute of the game against Maryville on Sep. 7. The previous record was set in 2014, when the Ichabods recorded 564 minutes and 36 seconds of shutout defense in a span from Sep. 28 to Oct. 19.
