Wildcat soccer puts three on all-league

Louisburg junior Noah Juarez earned a spot on the all-Frontier League boys soccer team for the third consecutive year as he was one of three Wildcats to earn spots on the all-league squad.

The season may not have started out as well as the Louisburg High School boys soccer team had hoped, but it ended on a positive note with a regional championship.

Louisburg started playing better toward the end of the regular season and the Frontier League coaches took notice. The Wildcats, who finished with 7-11-2 overall record and a 1-9-2 mark in league play, garnered three spots on the all-league team that was recently released.

Junior midfielder Noah Juarez was the Wildcats’ lone first-team selection. Senior defender Cale Schneider earned a second team honor and senior forward Parker Cates was named as an honorable mention.

De Soto led the league with seven spots on the team and Spring Hill was next with six selections. De Soto was second in the state this past season and Spring Hill came in fourth overall.

“I think we were well represented,” Louisburg coach Ben York said. “Would I have liked to see a couple other of my players who I felt deserved a little more credit? Yes, but it was a great league this year. With Ottawa, Baldwin, De Soto and Spring Hill, that is 90 percent of everyone on the league team. They probably had a combined (49) wins.

Senior Cale Schneider (right) was named to the all-league second team as a defender.

“You are going to have that and we have had years like that ourselves where Louisburg has brought six or seven of the top nominations. It was a fun meeting to be at because I knew our team was good and the other coaches respected the progress we made.”

Juarez is no stranger to the all-league list. The Wildcat midfielder earned first team honors for the third straight season and was also a returning all-state player.

He finished with a team high 11 goals to go along with nine assists and was the focal point of the Louisburg offense.

“It has been fun watching him and it was good to see him mature as a leader in the second half of the season,” York said of Juarez. “He, Cale, Parker and the other seniors really took their roles seriously. He has a chance to be a first team all-state player this year and hopefully he can get that honor because he had a good year.”

Schneider was recognized for his work on the defensive end, even though his season started out as a forward. He opened the year with a hat trick (three goals) against Fort Scott, but the team needed help more on the defensive side.

Senior Parker Cates finished out the season strong and was recognized for it as he was named as an honorable mention.

York moved him to the sweeper spot and he became a vital part of the defense for the remainder of the year.

“Cale was the main reason why we turned our season from one that was mediocre at best to a season where we did something good,” York said “It was the type of year where if we didn’t have a guy show up, we would just be OK. We were not a deep team and it showed how important Cale was to our team when he had to sit in the Spring Hill game because we got it handed to us.

“He is a good field player wherever you put him, but I think his niche was found this year as a sweeper. It worked really well for us and he is a great kid.”

As for Cates, he saved his best performance for last. The Louisburg forward, who finished the year with seven goals, scored six of those in three of the last four games of the season.

“It is hard to tell someone like Parker that his goals are going to come for a long period of time,” York said. “He knew they would come, he just wanted them to come before he graduated. His patience paid off, and once he put one in the back of the net, that confidence started breeding more confidence and he had a great last three or four games of the season. For him to overcome his struggles was great for the underclassmen to see because it shows them if you keep working at something that it will come.”

ALL-FRONTIER LEAGUE BOYS SOCCER

FIRST TEAM

Forward: Noah Lamar, De Soto, senior; Michael Werlein, Spring Hill, senior

Midfielder: Austin Culver, De Soto, senior; Noah Juarez, Louisburg, junior; Lucas Zoller, De Soto, senior; Lucas Moore, Spring Hill, junior; Stefan Foulke, Ottawa, senior; Brendan Owings, Baldwin, senior; Andrew Dowdy, De Soto, junior

Defender: Kyle Moose, De Soto, senior

Goalkeeper: Patrick Conroy, Ottawa, senior

SECOND TEAM

Forward: Carver Gerstberger, Spring Hill, senior

Midfielder: Keegan Finch, Ottawa, junior; Niklas Kramer, Paola, junior; Jacob Bailey, Baldwin, freshman; Justin Toumberlin, Eudora, senior

Defender: Jonny Wagner, Spring Hill, senior; Kyle Wokutch, Paola, senior; Logan Phillips, Baldwin, senior; Cale Schneider, Louisburg, senior; Keenan Powell, Spring Hill, senior

Goalkeeper: Bret Folks, Eudora, junior

HONORABLE MENTION

Forward: Ethan Rodriquez, De Soto, sophomore; Noah Buckley, Baldwin, junior; Javon Williams, Ottawa, senior; Parker Cates, Louisburg, senior

Midfield: Sam Campbell, Eudora, junior; Joey Bernhardt, Eudora, senior

Defender: Travis Hodge, De Soto, senior; Byron Fangman, Ottawa, junior

Goalkeeper: Killian Beck, Spring Hill, junior

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