Wildcats roll Paola on Senior Night to secure No. 1 seed

By Andy Brown
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Updated: May 21, 2025

***Louisburg senior Jaden Bentz pulls back on a ball during the Wildcats’ contest against Paola on May 15.***

Coming off a hard-fought loss to De Soto earlier in the week, the Louisburg girls soccer team had a chance to put that behind them and do a little celebrating.

The Wildcats hosted Paola on May 15, and it was also Senior Night as they honored their five seniors and their families. As it turned out, it was the perfect ending to the regular season.

Louisburg put together a dominant performance as it blanked Paola, 8-0, and ended its regular season with a 13-3 record. The victory also secured the No. 1 seed in the Class 4-1A playoffs.

Seniors Jaden Bentz, Ally Brown, Baileigh Johnson, Riley May and Rowan Yows were all recognized with their parents prior to the contest.

“Senior night was a fun, emotional night for the team,” Louisburg coach Jordan Roquemore said. “We have a wonderful group of seniors who have been exceptional leaders, players and friends this season. Getting a shutout with an 8-0 victory was just icing on the cake and a great way to celebrate that group.”

***Louisburg seniors (from left) Baileigh Johnson, Jaden Bentz, Ally Brown, Riley May and Rowan Yows were all honored with their parents on Senior Night.***

The Wildcats scored three first half goals to take the lead at halftime and scored five more times in the second half. Louisburg had seven different goal-scorers on the night, including a pair from Yows.

Layla Sewell, Johnson, Lila Edwards, Kahlan Harris, May and Briella Diehl each found the back of the net and got in the scoring column. Brown and Ellia Gibbons combined on the clean sheet.

“We passed and possessed really well this game,” Roquemore said. “We also adapted to Rowan being man-marked and found alternatives to using a clogged middle in our attacking third. We also set a season shooting record this game with 26 shots on goal and 49 shots overall, with the majority coming in the second half. Although I don’t love our accuracy in those numbers, I do appreciate our relentless attack.”

Louisburg will look to continue those offensive numbers in the postseason as the Wildcats host No. 9 seed Baldwin on May 21 for the regional championship. Roquemore and the Wildcats are hoping to make it a memorable run in the postseason.

“Getting the number one spot was exactly what we wanted,” Roquemore said. “It gives us a great path forward in the postseason and I am really proud of our team for earning that position this year. We have some tough tests ahead of us, but I am really excited to see what we can do. We are all in.”

Wildcats battle De Soto in road loss

With the No. 1 seed in the regional playoffs on the line, Louisburg had one task during its road game at De Soto — allow as few goals as possible.

Normally, that is the main objective for every team that takes the pitch, but the Wildcats needed to keep De Soto — one of the better teams in Class 5A — to under four goals to stay in contention for the top spot.

The Wildcats did just that as they held De Soto scoreless in the first half and allowed just two second half goals in the 2-0 loss. However, they were anything but dejected afterward.

“From the outside, it looks like a simple loss to De Soto,” Roquemore said. “However, this was a big victory for us. We executed our plan, adapting our play and being highly physical and aggressive on defense. Every other 4A team to play De Soto has been mercy-ruled with 8-0 or higher losses.

“The first half of this game showed everyone that we are capable of hanging with some of the best teams out there. We kept the goals scored against us low, which is now benefiting us as the top seed in the East. Our record is tied with Kansas City Christian and Atchison, but our goals against record is better, which allowed us to get the top spot for the playoffs.”

***Louisburg sophomore Caroline Apple clears the ball away during the Wildcats’ road contest at De Soto on May 13.***

Louisburg had a strong game from its back line of Jaden Bentz, Lila Edwards, Caroline Apple and Faith Sewell. Bentz, along with Cora Roche and Baileigh Johnson, were marked on De Soto’s top players most of the night.

Senior goalie Ally Brown also did her best to limit the damage as she had 17 saves. De Soto scored early in the second half on a penalty kick and then answered with another goal late in the second half.

“De Soto was the hardest game we played all year,” Roquemore said. “De Soto has three of the best players we’ve seen all year and some extremely good shooters. We had a clear game plan that was defensive with opportunities to counter-attack. For the first half, we executed really well on defense, holding De Soto to 0 goals and only 9 shots on goal. We had some mild success in countering, but not enough to get a good shot off.”