By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural soccer team has spent most of the last month taking on all comers, inviting challenges wherever it can find them. The Junior Blues defeated Bishop Carroll 2-0 at McElroy Field Tuesday to improve to 9-1-1 before a couple of weeks facing more traditional rivals.
The Junior Blues got goals from Dylan Willingham and Everett Un in the first half, then locked up the opponents for the rest of the night.
Washburn Rural senior Dylan Willingham (19) scored the game's first goal in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Sophomore Everett Un scored a goal in Washburn Rural's 2-0 win over Bishop Carroll Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The victory over Bishop Carroll followed up a win last week against Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Those victories came on the heels of three grueling battles against some top competition at a tournament in Iowa.
“It’s been a tough road the last week and a half,” Junior Blues coach Brian Hensyel said. “We’ve played five games in 12 days, our three games in Iowa and then Kapaun and Carroll are always tough. They’re really well-coached teams, some of the better teams in the Wichita area every year. We knew we were going to have to just play good sound defense, take our chances when we could. To win four and tie one, we’re pretty excited about how we’ve done.”
Junior Brodye Kocher-Munoz had a pair of assists and also had a stint as goalkeeper in Washburn Rural's 2-0 win over Bishop Carroll Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Recording an assist on both Washburn Rural goals Tuesday was forward Brodye Kocher-Munoz. The junior then provided another assist, this time to starting goalkeeper Miles Cook. Kocher-Munoz switched jerseys, donned the gloves, and defended the Junior Blues’ net for the final several minutes of the game, helping to preserve the shutout.
“I just gotta step up for the guys in any way they need,” Kocher-Munoz said. “It’s not all about scoring. Sometimes you’ve got to give the ball up and give your teammates a shot and celebrate with the team.”
Kocher-Munoz admitted moving to goalkeeper was not in his original plan against the Golden Eagles.
“In practice, sometimes I’ll step in there just for jokes, but I didn’t think I’d be in there tonight,” he said. “Sometimes you just gotta step up for the team.”
The next phase of the season has Washburn Rural facing three Centennial League opponents – Manhattan, Emporia and Topeka High – plus traditional rival Seaman over the next two weeks.
“All four of those games are, number one, really important for our seeding,” Hensyel said. “We really found out last year, under the new format when our boys had to go on the road in the semifinals, how hard that is. Our girls got to host in the semifinals and we saw what a big advantage that is. So, we’re trying to get the best seed possible.
“Number two, we’ve won the league a long time in a row. It’s still important to us, no matter if it has 10 teams or six teams or who it is, our goal every year is to win league. So, we are going to lock in for every one of those games.”
The Junior Blues have advanced to the Class 6A state Final Four each of the last five years. The team is full of players who participated in or watched those tournament runs. Hensyel said he believes the rugged schedule has prepared this year’s team for the playoffs, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“We have to keep stacking good weeks of practice. We have to have good days and good energy every time we come out, not just for game day. We’re a very talented soccer team, but sometimes we lose focus and complain about a call or worry about things out of our control.
“I told the guys tonight, you know, down the road, our worst enemy could be ourselves if we don’t focus on what’s the most important stuff, which is playing our brand of soccer and trying to find a way to get wins. We lost focus a little bit at a couple of times tonight. But we’ll get better at it and, by the end of the year, hopefully it will be where we want to be.”
WASHBURN RURAL 2, BISHOP CARROLL 0
Bishop Carroll (6-6-0) 0 0 — 0
Washburn Rural (9-1-1) 2 0 — 2
Washburn Rural — Goals: Willingham, Un. Assists: Kocher-Munoz 2. Shutout: Cook, Kocher-Munoz.
