By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Most anybody who follows high school soccer in Kansas knew that Washburn Rural was a huge favorite in Thursday's Class 6A girls regional final at McElroy Field.
And it only took a matter of minutes for the Junior Blues to make sure visiting Liberal knew that as well, with Rural scoring twice in the first 7 minutes, 14 seconds and five times in the first 19:07 on the way to a 9-0 rout.
"The whole talk for the last three or four weeks is we've got a lot of talent, we're a very good team and we've got advantages being here at home and being the higher seed and all that stuff, so you want to put the pressure on (teams) early ,'' Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "And with our girls, as soon as they score a couple of goals they just relax because they feel confident in our defense, which has only given up 10 goals in 18 games or something like that.
"So if we get to two early on you feel like, "This is going to be hard for anybody to come back.' And as you saw with the quality of some of the goals that we scored, they they just relax and we start making plays, so it's all about the start for us.''
![Washburn Rural celebrates after being presented with a Class 6A regional championship trophy Thursday night at McElroy Field. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]](/images/aa-images/Ruraljuberegional.jpeg)
Washburn Rural celebrates after being presented with a Class 6A regional championship trophy Thursday night at McElroy Field. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The start was exceptional Thursday, with Rural needing just 1:10 for senior Joy Ngibuini to find the back of the net off an assist from senior Brynn Fitzgibbons and just over eight minutes later for junior Hunter McWilliams to make the score 2-0.
The Junior Blues were in command at that point and added a second goal from Ngibuini as well as first-half goals from junior Belle Kennedy, sophomore Mackinly Rohn, senior Izzy Entz and Fitzgibbons as well as an own goal en route to opening up a huge 8-0 advantage at the half.
unior Belle Kennedy (10) had a goal and two assists in Washburn Rural's 9-0 regional win over Liberal Thursday night at McElroy Field. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The scoring pace slowed in the second half as Hensyel continued to shuffle players in and out with the game in hand, with sophomore Maya Hoge scoring the final goal of the night with 22:38 remaining.
Washburn Rural sophomore Maya Hoge slips a shot past Liberal's goalkeeper in Thursday's 9-0 regional win at McElroy Field. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Fitzgibbons and Kennedy both contributed two assists apiece while McWilliams, sophomore Addi Broxterman and junior Alandra Bailey were also credited with assists.
Sophomore Hailey Beck and freshman Mackenzie Flood combined for the shutout in goal for the Junior Blues, who improved to 15-2-1 on the season. Liberal finished its season 8-9-1.
Washburn Rural will be at home next Tuesday for a 6A state quarterfinal contest, vying for a berth in the final four May 28-29 at Hummer Sports Park. The quarterfinal pairings will be set after all the regional finals have been completed.
CLASS 6A REGIONAL SOCCER
WASHBURN RURAL 9, LIBERAL 0
Liberal (8-9-1) 0 0 -- 0
Washburn Rural (15-2-1) 8 1 -- 9
Washburn Rural -- Goals: Ngibuini 2, McWilliams, Kennedy, Rohn, Entz, Fitzgibbons, Hoge, own goal. Assists: Kennedy 2, Fitzgibbons 2, Broxterman, McWilliams, Bailey. Shutout: Beck, Flood.
