By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Playing on its home field, Washburn Rural's boys soccer team wanted to establish itself early in Monday's Class 6A state quarterfinal against Liberal.
Junior Dylan Willingham made that happen just 5 minutes, 21 seconds into the match, giving the Junior Blues a lead that that they would not relinquish on the way to a 4-2 win over the Redskins that propelled Washburn Rural into Wednesday's state semifinals.
Washburn Rural celebrates Monday's 4-2 Class 6A quarterfinal soccer win over Liberal. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural juniors Draden Chooncharoen (23) and Dylan Willingham (19) celebrate Willingham's second goal in Monday's 4-2 Class 6A quarterfinal win over Liberal. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural, whch will be making its fifth straight Final Four appearance, will face Shawnee Mission East (17-1-1) in a 6 p.m. semifinal contest at the Shawnee Mission Soccer Complex.
Willingham put the ball into the net after an outstanding individual effort to give Rural an early boost as the Junior Blues improved to 14-2-3 on the season.
"The play was put it in the back of the net, honestly,'' Willingham said. "The ball just popped up and it was just going to be a shot and it went in luckily. I tried to rip it and it went in, thankfully.''
Junor Drew Moore gave Rural a 2-0 halftime advantage with 20:21 left in the half and Willingham struck again at the 14:48 mark of the second half to put the Junior Blues in front, 3-0.
"I'm always taught to run through the ball, so I did, and luckily I caught them off guard and had a free ticket to the goal and that was sweet,'' Willingham said. "We just want to win and move on, we want to be in the top four.
"We're at state and that's what we always want to do.''
Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said that getting off to a quick start Monday was a big advantage.
"We knew (Liberal) was going to be a tough opponent and they had some talented offensive players,'' Hensyel said. "So to get off to a good start again -- and that's kind of been the theme of the playoffs so far -- when you take control of the game it kind of settles everybody down and then the second goal did the same thing.
"I just thought throughout the night we created chances. Some are going to go in, some didn't. We had two or three others really close so I'm just proud of the whole performance.''
Liberal, which finished its season 13-5-1, got on the board with 12:40 left on a penalty kick from senior Suain Moncayo, but Washburn Rural answered that with a goal from senior Matthew Houser at the 3:52 mark to give Rural a 4-1 advantage.
The Redskins added a second goal late in the match on a shot from junior Joshua Garcia to account for the final margin.
In addition to his goal Moore contributed an assist for the Junior Blues, who also got assists from junior Draden Chooncharoen and sophomore Brodye Kocher-Munoz.
Washburn Rural will be facing a Shawnee Mission East team that advanced to the state semifinals with a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Mill Valley.
Dodge City (19-0-0) will host Shawnee Mission West (15-2-2) in the other semifinal.
Dodge City beat Wichita East 5-1 while SM West topped Blue Valley West 3-1 on penalty kicks (4-3).
The 6A championship and third-place games will be played on Saturday at the Stryker Soccer Complex in Wichita. The third-place game will start at 4 p.m. while the championship game is scheduled for a 4:30 start.
WASHBURN RURAL 4, LIBERAL 2
Liberal (13-5-1) 0 2 -- 0
Washburn Rural (14-2-3) 2 2 -- 4
Liberal -- Goals: Suain Moncayo, Joshua Garcia.
Washburn Rural -- Goals: Dylan Willingham 2, Drew Moore, Matthew Houser. Assists: Draden Chooncharoen, Drew Moore, Brodye Kocher-Munoz.
