In 18 minutes, the Maize girls’ soccer team had taken all of the drama out of the Titan Classic blue bracket championship game.
By that point, the Eagles (4-0) had poured in four goals on a backpedaling Kapaun Mt. Carmel (2-2) defense. Considering no team had scored on the Eagles before that point, a furious comeback for Kapaun was out of the question.
“Second best is fine if we put up a fight,” said Alan Shepard, Kapaun head coach. “We didn’t put up much of a fight today. If it was a closer game, I probably would have been happier with it. The way the score was, and the way they played and the way we played, it’s unacceptable.”
Maize routed Kapaun 7-1 to bring home its second consecutive Titan Classic title.
“I thought defensively, this was our best game,” said Jay Holmes, Maize head coach. “I think the kids collectively have just been improving game-in and game-out from the beginning of the season to culminating with this game today, a 7-1 victory over a good Kapaun team.”
Already sporting a 2-0 advantage, Abby Cinotto rebounded her own shot off the crossbar and connected on the putback to put Maize ahead 3-0 after 17 minutes.
Only a minute later, Whitney Lucas knocked in a goal to put the Eagles ahead 4-0.
“We’re just really inexperienced in the back, and they exposed us pretty well,” Shepard said. “Any time you get a team that forces you to change things, you know they’ve got you. We need experience. We need some games together as a unit in the back.”
Rebecca Andrus put Maize ahead by five early in the second half. Later, Lucas ricocheted a shot off the crossbar and Madison Holmes followed for the tap-in for a 6-0 lead. Senior McKenzie Hartzog finished Maize’s assault with a rocket from 27 yards out for a 7-0 edge.
Kapaun added a goal late for the final margin.
The finals marked the third consecutive year the two squads met in the title match. The Crusaders won in 2010 on penalty kicks before conceding the past two.
“Kapaun is always a solid team every year,” Holmes said. “We always look forward to seeing the brackets when they come out, and it’s always nice when Kapaun is in the bottom half. It’s always our goal to meet up with them in the final.”
Hutchinson holds off Winfield in red bracket
The Hutchinson Salthawks held off two Winfield rallies to win the Titan Classic red bracket championship on penalty kicks.
Hutchinson scored in the first half to take a 1-0 lead into the half, but Winfield answered early in the second. The Salthawks took the lead again with a goal, but the Vikings scored another equalizer to send the game to overtime.
Neither team found the back of the net in overtime before Hutchinson ended it on penalty kicks for a 3-2 win.
