photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Junior Cooper Carr races to beat a Bishop Miege player to the ball in a 2-1 win over the Stags in the consolation game of the 4-1A boys soccer tournament in Wichita.

Wichita — Baldwin’s boys soccer team fell short of its season-long goals when it lost to Trinity Academy on Wednesday. The loss prevented the Bulldogs from a state championship, something that the team has been close to for several years.

But the season didn’t end there. The Bulldogs had one more opportunity to win together, and they did that in a 2-1 win over Bishop Miege on Saturday in the consolation game at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita.

Even if it wasn’t the exact game they were hoping for, Saturday allowed the team to play a title game in Wichita against a team that had previously won eight straight titles in the 4-1A level. That was enough to get the team looking forward to the game.

“Ultimate goal of winning a state championship is off… so what do you play for?” Baldwin coach Matt McCune said. “Let’s just go out on a high note and have fun. We got to bring the boys up last night, practice, go out to eat and enjoy one more game together.”

The Bulldogs played more of their typical style of soccer. Junior midfielder Cooper Carr said the team felt good going into the contest. Some team bonding, a dinner at Texas Roadhouse and more helped the team get prepared and excited for the match. They added wrinkles, like counter-attacking with the wingback, to get the better of a team that had defeated them in the 2022 state championship game.

The first half remained scoreless, but the Bulldogs had positive movement at the top. Scoring was just a matter of time.

Six minutes into the second half, junior defenseman Ethan Smasal scored after other Bulldog forwards faked out the Bishop Miege defense. The goal led to an eruption from the Baldwin sideline, but they didn’t hold the lead for long. Bishop Miege scored on a corner kick from senior midfielder Grant Bealmear that the Baldwin coaches were arguing should’ve been a goal kick.

Bishop Miege’s goal didn’t affect the Bulldogs. They continued to push and play the game the way they wanted. Defense and communication were the key points to Baldwin’s game plan, and the team stuck with it.

With around 16 minutes left in the match, the Bulldogs had a chance to regain the lead with a penalty kick. Senior defenseman Kaiden O’Keefe knocked it in, giving Baldwin a 2-1 lead.

The Stags came close to scoring another tying goal on corner kicks, but the Baldwin defense that carried the team held up. The final whistle sounded, and the Bulldogs concluded their season in third place in the 4-1A state tournament and tied a school record for 17 wins.

“We dominated (this year),” McCune said. “In games we’ve lost, we can pinpoint those reasons, and those are correctable.”

Carr said that the senior leadership made a big difference for the team this season. As leaders, they helped the team tie that school win record and helped them refocus for the third-place game.

A state title is still the goal for the Bulldogs. A lot of players and goal-scorers — including both in Saturday’s game — will return next year. The team will return a lot of experience at the varsity level and in the postseason. That’ll be critical as the team prepares for next year.

“We bring back a bunch of juniors, so this experience is good for us,” Carr said. “Knowing what it takes to get here and knowing what it takes to get further… we have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy that we got this done this year.”