Staying Focused: South soccer team - often ahead by multiple goals - challenges itself to maintain high level of intensity

An unseasonably cold Friday night was accompanied by steady drizzle last week, but as the Park Hill South girls soccer team saw their final of eight goals on the night go through the net and the seconds wind down on another conference victory against William Chrisman, there were few complaints because the Panthers are off to their best start in school history. Their 11-1 record speak to their success, but so does the wide margin of their victories with seven of those wins by more than seven goals. Often overmatching their opponents, one challenge the Panthers continuously find themselves facing is the need to sharpen their skills and improve each game.

“Maintaining a high level even when we might not be playing the best team,” Katie Riojas said of their focus. “Right now we’re just working on working well together and using each other’s strengths.”

For a team with just three seniors, a talented group of sophomore and juniors would make it easy to think about the future, but coach Joe Toigo and his players emphasize this is their year. While Toigo believes his team’s greatest strength comes from being able to set up passes effectively and control the game, his players believe it also has to do with a familiarity built from last year’s team.

“I think we have good chemistry. Everyone just messes together well,” Riojas said.

“We had a lot of new players last year, so this year we’re more familiar with each other and all kind of know where each of us is going to go,” added senior Mackenzie Williams.

A former player himself, Toigo says he recognizes soccer is a players’ game and once it starts there are only a few things he can do as a coach to effect the game. With such a skilled team, he’s felt more comfortable letting the players decide what to try in terms of in-game adjustments.

“You can do some strategic things ahead of time off the field, but when the game starts sometimes you just have to get through it,” Toigo said. “Sometimes you make them more nervous by yelling and screaming at them.”

One thing helping the Panthers avoid the complacency that could come with having early season success is the inevitability of facing more competitive and more talented teams as the post-season approaches. South has pinpointed one team in particular as motivation to improve. Liberty, the top-ranked defending state champion, is scheduled to play South April 29th and if they can both repeat as district champions, it could be a preview of a state sectional game.

“We keep trying to get them focused on always improving, no matter how much we’re winning by. We have places we want to get that require us to get better,” Toigo said. “Some of these games become training. Tonight we played 10 players instead of 11 in the second half. 15 minutes into it they understood why we were doing it because we need to keep pushing ourselves. Against a really good team it may feel like we’re down a player so we need to get used to it.”

In addition to the leadership of Riojas and Williams, senior Alexis Mikulich has posted ten shutouts, but if things go according to plan she shouldn’t see the ball too often.

“Alexis is an accomplished goalie. She doesn’t see that much action because the rest of the team is really good at keeping the ball. If we hold it, then there shouldn’t be a lot of shots on the goal,” Toigo said.

Courtney Claassen, Emily Hanlon, and Abbey Johnson join Riojas as they led an offensive attack that’s racked up nearly 40 goals combined this season.

“Courtney is a very fast kid. You can’t guard just her because if you do someone else will take you a part whether it’s Katie Riojas or Abbey Johnson or someone else,” Toigo said. “Strikers are like home run hitters in baseball. They always want the ball. Strikers are trying to shot and score every time they get the ball.”

Just past the halfway point in the season, the Panthers will have their chance to accomplish some of their more immediate goals before they look to meet their post-season benchmarks.

“Definitely winning conference is a goal,” Riojas said.

“…and winning a tournament, we’ve got the Blue Springs South tournament coming up which will be more competitive than our conference schedule,” Williams said.

The Blue Springs South Tournament this week will feature some tough games for South. Combine that with a stretch of four games in five days next week led off with the much anticipated Liberty matchup followed by Raytown, Staley, and Winnetonka.

“Going into the playoffs, those games really push us to see how we’re doing,” Toigo said. “I’m trying to empower them. I want them to talk about us and what we need to do and how we can control what happens.”

Spring Weekly Roundup: April 11-15

Park Hill Boys Tennis
... led by Michael Jones win 10-4 in the top singles matchup they beat Lee's Summit North 7-2 to start off last week. Blake Barnard and Christian Reinmiller also won in their number one double competition 10-6. They next welcomed Ruskin and with a combination of all skill levels beat the Eagles 8-1. Later in the week, they traveled to Pembroke Hill where they fell 5-0 before inclement weather prevented the meet from being completed. They'll compete against Liberty North Wednesday and Blue Springs South Thursday.

Park Hill South Boys Tennis
...improved their overall dual season record to 5-1 last week with a two 9-0 wins against Belton and Fort Osage. Top singles players Zack Royle and Griffin Smith are undefeated at 6-0 on the year.

"They're non-stop, they are just going after the ball constantly," Coach Glynis Chambers said of her top two players."Griffin's got a solid left-hand which can be an obstacle for many players and Zach is a really strong hitter."

Solidifying their lineup, the Panthers have Jim Geary, Justin Dixon, Josh Lukens, and Abhi Gullapalli contributing at the varsity level with Chris McCarthy finding himself pushing those above him in competing for and sometimes stepping into that sixth spot on the roster.

"Our top six players are not only great tennis players, they take their academics seriously, and are overall awesome young men," Coach Glynis Chambers said.

Park Hill Boys Track
.. had another strong performance last week as they placed first overall as a team in the Winnetonka Invitational. A number of Trojans earned top finishes with first place medal winners including Cain Winebrenner in the 1600 meter dash, Nick Smith in the discus (161' 2"), Luke Bossert in the pole vault (12' 6"), Trace Norfleet in the long jump (22' 5.25") and triple jump (44' 9"), and the 4x800 relay team of Nathan Koehler, Joe Walton, Riley Farenholz, and Winebrenner. Runners-up with second place finishes included Anthony Arens in the 100 meter dash (10.88), Quenton Noble in the 200 meter dash (22.8), Nate Huffer in the 3200 meter run (10:48), Smith in the shot put, Nick Shepherd in the high jump, and the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams. Burt Taylor in the 100 meter run, Joe Walton in the 800 meter run, Dondrell Hardiman in the 300 hurdles, and Artis Norfleet in the long jump all came in third with their respective performances. They'll compete this week at the Kansas Relays at KU before hosting the Park Hill Invitational next week.

Park Hill Girls Track
...saw some strong performances at the Winnetonka Invitational last week with two top finishes. Stephanie Atkinson continues to standout for the Trojans as she earned first place in the pole vault. Also finishing first was the 4x100 relay team of Thomas, Belcher, Moss and Battles. Marche Belcher in the 200 meter run and the 4x800 relay team of Lewis, Grauberger, Bischof, and Ebbrechet finished in second place while third place medal winners included Davon Thomas in the 200 meter run, Bailey Cation in the long and triple jumps, Belcher in the 300 hurdles, Chelsea Lewis in the 800 meter run, and the 4x200 relay team of Battles, Belcher, Moss, and Thomas.

Park Hill South Boys Track
...with a strong performance in the Winnetonka Invitational, the Panthers scored 101 team points which was good enough for third place. First place finishes included James Bowlin in the 800 meter run and Christian Hildebrandt in the high jump. Second place finishers included the 4x800 relay team of Bowlin, D.J. Johnson, Abdi Sarbessa, and Connor Allison, Johnson in the 400 meter run, and Dillon Ryel in the pole vault. Cody Kildow in the discus, the 4x100 relay team of Lucas Gardner, Jones, Josh Gordon, and Andrew Davis along with the 4x400 relay team of Bowlin, Gardner, Johnson, and Ryel all received third place finishes. They will compete next this Friday at the William Chrisman Invitational.

Park Hill South Girls Track
...placed second in the Winnetonka Invitational. The handful of first place finishes came from Tori Kerr in the discus, Blake Reser in the long jump and triple jump, and the 4x800 relay team of Jessica McCoy, Lizzy Jurries, Logan Tucker-Nelson, and Samantha Roy. Roy also placed first in the 800 meter run. Jen Carlson in the high jump, Tucker-Nelson in the 800 meter run, Hannah Carlson in the 300 hurdles, Lauren Goner in the triple jump and the 4x100 relay team of Chandler Termini, Allyse Edwards, Hannah Brown, and Reser all finished as runners-up in second place. They will compete next this Friday at the William Chrisman Invitational.

Park Hill Baseball
... entered this week with a four game winning streak after victories against Park Hill South (5-2) and North Kansas City (1-0). Nathan Shores (.381, 12 RBI's) and Zach Thompson (.326, 9 RBI's) continue to lead the Trojans on offense. But Shores's impressive 0.69 ERA in 20 1/3 innings and Logan Sloniker's 33 strikeouts seem to be what are making the difference for Park Hill which is now 8-6 on the year. They hope to continue their success in the opening round of the Northland Tournament this week against Excelsior Springs, Staley, and Smithville.

Park Hill South Baseball
... despite a solid win against William Chrisman 6-0 earlier last week, the Panthers continued to see a lack of run support for strong pitching performances as they dropped games against Park Hill (5-2) and Winnetonka (2-0). Park Hill South, now 5-9 overall, will hope to combine their good pitching outings with some offense this week as they play three games against Liberty North, Oak Park, and Kearney in the Northland Tournament this week.

"Our pitchers all threw well, but we did not back them up with anything," Coach Josh Walker said.

Park Hill Girls Soccer
...had a rough week at the Smithville Tournament last week. Losses to Smithville (2-0) and Staley (4-2) started out the week, but the Trojans were able to salvage the last game by pulling out victory against Harrisonville after the game went to penalty kicks after a 1-1 score during regulation. They're now with a remaining game against Truman this week followed by matchups with Liberty North and Lee's Summit West next week.

Park Hill/Park Hill South Boys Golf
Park Hill South pulled out a one stroke victory ahead of Liberty last week in a quad meet competition that also included Park Hill and St. Joe Central at the National II last week. Park Hill South's 336 total team score bested Liberty's 337. Park Hill followed with a score of 352 and St. Joe Central trailed with a stroke total of 377.