WICHITA, Kan.—
The Kapaun Mt. Carmel boys’ soccer team ended a season with a city league title and a third place finish at state. Senior Logan McCully said that working well together as a team is what allowed the Crusaders to do well this season.“Our chemistry as a team [is what made us successful],” McCully said. “Since the whole team got along so well with each other, we were able to combine our personal skill with our teammates easier than if we didn't.”
The team set high goals for themselves this year, including winning city league and state titles.
“Our goal every year is to win state,” junior Daniel Kelly said. “Another goal of ours was to win city league. We are a top team and we expect to do well so we set our goals high.”
The Crusaders had to continually work hard throughout the season to meet their goal of winning city league, and were often faced with challenges.
“I would have to say many teams presented a challenge,” head coach Alan Shepherd said. “But the North game, the last game of the season, was a game we needed to win [to advance to state], and we won 3-0.”
After accomplishing their goal of winning city league, the team turned its attention to preparing for state.
“As soon as we won city, coach took us aside and told us that our season wasn't done and our goal wasn't reached,” senior Logan McCully said. “We set our goal high: to win state.”
To prepare for state competition, the team worked hard in practice, but overall just treated it like another normal game.
“We just tried to treat it like any other game and keep our nerves under control,” Kelly said. “Practices went on as normal.”
Kapaun ended with a third place finish at state, just short of their goal. Although their goal was not met, McCully said he was happy with how his team played.
“If a team makes it to state, whether they get first or last, they are a really good team,” McCully said. “We missed our ultimate goal but at least ended the season with a win for the 3rd place title in the entire state. Only four teams get a chance to come here every year and we proved that we were definitely a top contender.”
Kelly said he was happy with how the season ended.
“Early in the season we had some losses, but we ended the season on a good run,” Kelly said. “We came together as a team and played fully to our potential.”
