By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The 2022 soccer campaign for the Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds ended in Thursday night's 3-0 regional championship loss to St. James Academy.
Nic Simons' Shawnee Heights soccer team saw its 2022 season come to an end in Thursday's 3-0 loss to St. James Academy in a Class 5A regional final. [File photo/TSN]
The T-Bird team that didn't lose a single game in the United Kansas Conference fell one game short of the state quarterfinals for the second straight year at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Although the Thunderbirds didn't achieve its big goal, Shawnee Heights had another successful year, finishing with an 11-6-1 record.
"I don't think this one game should define who our kids are," Heights coach Nic Simons said. "From the seniors all the way down to our sophomore goalkeeper, I couldn't be more proud of the season this group had. We had a lot of goals set this year, and one of our goals was playing in front of a home crowd at state this year, and we came up just a bit short of that.
"These kids are an amazing group. These type of days is the worst part of my job. I absolutely hate this part of my job. But, I mean, darn, I have to be proud of these guys. They have gone through a lot as a group."
Shawnee Heights played solid defense early but couldn't get its offense going against a quick, physical and hounding St. James Academy defense.
However, the Thunder collected themselves at halftime, and St. James' offense came alive.
Shawnee Heights standout sophomore goalkeeper Carter Freeman was a brick wall in the first half while Heights' backline also played well.
St. James' Ryan Lytton placed a corner kick perfectly to a goalbox that was stuffed full of players and William Ediger jumped high enough to knock in the goal on a header that gave the Thunder a 1-0 advantage with 33:23 left in the second half.
Ediger would put his stamp on the game again nearly 10 minutes later. With a pack of Thunder players swarming an open alley to the goal, Ediger would capitalize in a situation that couldn't have been more perfect for St. James Academy. The Shawnee Heights defense trailed and watched the Thunder tap it in for its second goal of the night.
At 16:35 in the second half, St. James Academy put the dagger down on this game with a goal from Seth Haney.
Shawnee Heights' nine seniors, including eight starters, left their mark on the T-Bird program.
"These seniors have been to state during their tenure, won regional championships and league multiple times," Simons said. "To see it end like this for them is never fun, but I have to congratulate and tip my cap to them for how hard they have worked. It's going to be hard to replace eight starting seniors."
ST. JAMES ACADEMY 3, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 0
St. James Academy (8-10-0) 0 3 – 3
Shawnee Heights (11-6-1) 0 0 – 0
Goals: St. James Academy – Ediger (2), Haney. Assists: St. James Academy – Lytton. Shutout: St. James Academy – Perr.
