Wildcats fall in regional title game to defending state champ

Louisburg senior defender Eli Minster tries to send the ball away in the rain Thursday during the Class 4-3-2-1A regional championship game at Bishop Miege High School. The Wildcats fell to Bishop Miege, 8-0.

ROELAND PARK – On a rainy and cool evening, the Louisburg boys soccer team traveled to Bishop Miege High School to try and capture its fourth straight regional title.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats were going to have to go through a two-time defending state champion to do so.

Without a full complement of players due to injuries and other things, Louisburg just couldn’t keep up with Bishop Miege as it saw its season come to an end Thursday in an 8-0 loss.

“We just played the state champion,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “The kids fought the whole game and they never stopped. They kept grinding and kept working. I am just really proud of the kids. Miege is probably one of the best three teams in the state and there is a reason why. They are a really talented team and they play well together and they have a mass amount of depth. They are a really quality side.

“But our kids didn’t quit and they played their butts off. I think we did a good job of keeping our composure, playing the game the right way and doing what we asked them to do.”

Bishop Miege scored to give the Stags a 1-0 lead with 27 minutes remaining in the first half and it remained that way until the latter part of the half. Miege scored three goals in the final 11 minutes to take a 4-0 advantage at halftime.

Junior Ryan Haight slides in to take the ball away from a Bishop Miege player.

The Wildcats (6-11) didn’t give up as they fought through the conditions and battled the Stags, but the defending Class 4-3-2-1A state champions were too much for the young and inexperienced Wildcats.

“We ran out quite a few kids, including several freshmen, who went out and did their thing,” Conley said. “It was a good opportunity to get them some minutes and experience and say they got to play in a regional championship game. We will learn from it and I think the boys had a pretty good experience. They understood who they just played and what it was. I couldn’t be prouder of the boys and the way they played.”

It was a season full of ups and downs for Louisburg as it had to deal with multiple injuries throughout the season and Conley was forced to shuffle guys around and create different lineups. The Wildcats began with a 4-1 start, but suffered several close losses along the way, and the mounting injuries didn’t help them get back on track.

Defender Will Frank heads the ball away from the goal Thursday against Miege.

Louisburg also had to say goodbye to seniors Eli Minster, Chris Williams, Eric Vazquez and Brock Bila, who all played their final game for the Wildcats.

“The season was what it was,” Conley said. “We had some games that we gave away and it kind of stuck us in this situation. It is what it is though. I am just really proud of this group and the way we kept fighting and battling.

“We had a horrific month or so where everything just went bad. We had a lot of injuries and some self-induced problems. We faced a lot of adversity this year and had to play with a lot of different lineups and different guys had to play a lot of minutes. I think that is great experience for them. It is going to be tough losing the four seniors that we had with Brock, Eli, Eric and Chris. We just have to try to fill the holes that they left.”