By RICK PETERSON JR.
KSHSAA Covered
The Washburn Rural girls soccer team left no stone unturned in prepping for every scenario during its pursuit of the program’s first state title.
Washburn Rural soccer rushes the field at the end of Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
Washburn Rural soccer celebrates Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
That included meticulous work on penalty kicks throughout this playoff run.
“I learned my lesson about a decade ago,” Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. “Our boys got into a shootout in 2015. We hadn’t practiced penalty kicks at all, and we lost. Every playoff run, boys or girls, for the last 10 years, we do (penalty kicks) every practice.”
So after 100 minutes of scoreless soccer in Saturday’s Class 6A state championship game against Mill Valley at Stryker Sports Complex, Hensyel felt reasonably confident about his team’s chances.
“It’s random,” Hensyel said of PKs. “But if you have a great goalkeeper, which we do, and you have confident kids who practice it and put in the time, you feel as good as you can in that situation.
“I told them: ‘Madison Lemke is going to save two. All we have to do is make our shots and this is over.”
Indeed, Rural was nearly flawless in the shootout, beating Mill Valley 4-1 on penalty kicks to break through for its long-awaited championship with a 1-0 win.
As Hensyel predicted, Lemke made two saves, and the Junior Blues converted on all four kicks with goals from Dayne Shriver, Kate Hinck, Delaney Hill and Bristol Karr.
“I come at it with confidence, because there’s no way you’re going to do well without confidence,” Lemke said. “There’s so much adrenaline and I’m trusting my team to do their part. All I can do is just do mine and make some saves.”
“That’s as good as you can do in a shootout,” Hensyel said. “We did a lot of drills to see who’s the most accurate and who hits the most shots, and who wanted to take it – that’s part of the mental aspect. The practice paid off. We picked the right group.”
Washburn Rural senior Madison Lemke comes up with a save in Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Washburn Rural senior Bristol Karr scored the game-clinching penalty kick in Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Ava Edwards scored on Mill Valley’s first attempt to knot it at 1-1 but Lemke blocked the Jaguars’ next two attempts. Karr’s goal was the clincher.
“I can just kind of feel where it’s going,” Lemke said. “Once I saved the (second attempt) I was like, ‘Ok, I got this.’ I heard the whole crowd cheering behind me. It’s just amazing to have that much support.”
“Madison is amazing," Rural senior forward Kate Hinck said. “She's out of this world.”
Rural (19-2) put together a barrage of scoring opportunities midway through the first half, creating Grade A chances on the doorstep.
“We played really good in the first half,” Hensyel said. “By the end, we had tired legs. We thought we were going to score a couple in the first half.
“In the second half, both teams were just kind of holding on, not trying to give up a goal, especially in overtime. Give Mill Valley a lot of credit. We’ve scored goals in every game, one of our highest scoring teams we’ve ever had, and they shut us down. But we found a way to win in the end.”
Mill Valley coach Justin Crawford said Rural’s pressure took its toll but the Jaguars adapted.
“They’ve got talented players and they gave us fits just by playing the way that they play,” he said. “They had a couple of close ones, especially early.
“But as we got more and more into the game, we found our moments to try and counter. We just didn’t finish that last pass or the last moment. We knew it was going to be an extremely tough game. Kudos to them because they’re an amazing team.”
Both coaches said shootouts are a difficult way to end a state championship game.
“PKs are awful,” said Crawford, whose team finished 17-3-1. “But we train and we practice them, too. We battled obviously and gave it our absolute best.”
“It’s a tough way for either team to win or lose a game,” Hensyel said.
Lemke also made some key saves in regulation and the overtime periods. Rural’s defenders helped limit the Jaguars’ opportunities.
“Our defense has been great all year,” Hensyel said. “They don’t get a lot of credit because we’ve been scoring a lot of goals. Our defense obviously was spectacular today.”
The Junior Blues’ title comes in their 11th straight trip to the semis. Rural was runner-up in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2022.
“We knew we were the best program outside of Johnson County, we just had to prove it to people,” Hensyel said. “To break through and prove, at least in this year, we’re the best team in the state, it’s very rewarding.”
“I’m actually in awe,” Lemke said. “My sister (Kelly Lemke) played keeper and she was on (Rural’s) first girls team to make it to a state championship game. It just means so much to be a big part of the final game and win that for her and for all these girls that have worked so hard since freshman year to make it to this moment.”
Hinck scored 28 goals on the season and leaves as Rural’s career goal leader with 82. Senior forward Zahra Friess was a big addition, netting 14 goals this season after transferring from Cair Paravel. She helped lead the Lions to a runner-up finish in 4-1A last year.
Other seniors are Lemke, Karr, Hill, Destiny Higgs, Addy Kaberline, Rylee Weber, Megan Louderback, Kinlee Smoot and Hailey Davin.
“We just made history,” Hinck said. “What can be better than that?”
