WICHITA — It was a slow start for Cair Paravel in their Class 4-1A State Semifinal game against McPherson on Friday. The Bullpups controlled the ball and attacked with ease, but the Lions withstood their dominance.
In the final 20 minutes of the first half, Cair Paravel started to find their form as they went on to win 3-1 to advance to Saturday’s state championship. The Lions opened the scoring with a great piece of individual play from Zahra Friess.
Friess dribbled the ball all the way to the byline. She ran on a tight rope nearing the goal and at the last second, Friess ditched off to Katherine Keys for the opening goal. This unselfishness and style of goal has been a point of emphasis for head coach Doug Woolery over the past few weeks.
“Things recovered by the end of the half. We did some things today that we have been working on for a long time,” Woolery said. “Bringing the ball across the back and passing it to the six and having someone there to put it in. That was good to see.”
Six minutes later, Cair Paravel huffed another long ball up the field and Friess chased after it. Two good touches and she slammed a shot into the back of the net. Friess cheered with her teammates until she wheeled off in celebration to the corner flag.
Friess was joined by Keyllann Chada and Keys. The trio sat on the ground and pretended to row a boat in celebration. The celebration was coined on the soccer pitch by FC Dallas in 2016. On Friday, it was the celly queens of Topeka that took centerstage.
“We were on our way here and Catherine texted our group chat. She said, ‘Guys, we have to do a celebration if we score,’” Friess laughed. “It was awesome, it was so fun.”
Cair Paravel added their third goal in the second half. It was another one-on-one chance for Friess and she slotted it home to give the Lions a 3-0 lead. McPherson answered with a goal of their own in the 68th minute. Four minutes later, the Bullpups hit the post twice coming close to cutting Cair Paravel’s lead in half.
The Lions’ stout defense held on for the win and helped them advance to their first ever state championship on Saturday. The Lions will face Bishop Miege, who have won seven straight titles, in Wichita at 3 p.m. Cair Paravel lost to Bishop Miege 2-1 during the regular season.
“We had a really good performance and it really just showed that we are a good enough team that we can take them on,” Friess said. “We are super excited and intimidated going into the game.”
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It was a heartbreaking way to end Washburn Rural’s title hopes on Friday. Blue Valley Northwest defeated the Junior Blues 1-0 in the Class 6A State Semifinal.
The goal came in the second period of overtime thanks to Blue Valley Northwest’s Ava Nichols. She drilled a low shot towards the far right side of the goal to send the Huskies to the state championship.
The loss sends Washburn Rural to the third place game against Maize on Saturday at noon. Blue Valley Northwest will face Blue Valley West for the title at Hummer Sports Park at 3 p.m.
Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com.
