By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Blue Valley North battled to an 0-0 deadlock over 80 minutes Thursday at McElroy Field before Mother Nature won the overtime.
With severe storms rapidly approaching, the Junior Blues and Mustangs completed regulation before the decision was made to call the game, resulting in a scoreless tie.
Washburn Rural senior Ben Buesing (right) and Blue Valley North's Will Matthews follow the flight of the ball Thursday night at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Tyler Faurot (3) pressures Blue Valley North's Beau Chiaverini in Thursday's 0-0 tie at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural finished its regular season 11-2-3 while Blue Valley North finished 6-8-2 on the year.
The Junior Blues will either be the No. 3 West seed in Class 6A and will be at home for a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. on Monday. Rural's Senior Night festivities were pushed back to Monday.
Obviously, Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel would have preferred to have had a chance to pull out a victory in overtime Thursday, but he understood the decision.
"We played 80 minutes, that's a full game,'' Hensyel said. "Yeah, the overtime is nice to try to settle it but it was a pretty fair, even battle and each team had their chances with the wind and neither team could find the back of the net .
"It was a good challenge for us right before the playoffs to play a good Kansas City team, so we're happy with it.''
Washburn Rural senior Ryder Nikkel advances the ball in Thursday's 0-0 deadlock with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Matthew Houser executes a header in Thursday's Washburn Rural 0-0 tie with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Now the Junior Blues, third in 6A last season, will try to gear up for the start of postseason.
"I still feel like we haven't reached our peak and haven't put it all together for an entire game yet,'' Hensyel said. "You know the performances are fine, but in the playoffs we've got to find another gear.
"We kind of play in spurts and I'm not sure we've played a full 80 minutes the entire season, so we're going to have to do that next week. It's a brand new slate and it doesn't really matter what our record is. You go to the tournament and see what happens.''
WASHBURN RURAL 0, BLUE VALLEY NORTH 0
Blue Valley North (6-8-2) 0 0 -- 0
Washburn Rural (11-2-3) 0 0 -- 0
Blue Valley North -- Shutout: Alex Rhodes. Washburn Rural -- Shutout: MIles Cook.
