Area soccer standouts make All-League lists

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Fifteen total members of the Free State and Lawrence High boys soccer teams appeared on the All-Sunflower League team, the league revealed over the weekend.

Four of those area names made the first-team cut, including FSHS junior midfielder JJ Zheng, senior defender Utah Hester and junior goalkeeper Yusef Iskandrani and Lawrence High senior forward Colin Sandefur.

Three more Firebirds – senior midfielder Drew Rosenthal, senior forward Cameron Stutler and junior defender Somjai Sengchan – were named to the second team. Joining their city counterparts with second-team honors were Lawrence High’s junior forward Asher Sikes and senior midfielder Ocean Comfort.

FSHS senior goalkeeper Carter Stevenson, sophomore forward Eli Stone and sophomore forward Trenton Cozadd, as well as Lawrence High senior midfielder Alden Parker-Timms, sophomore forward Patrick Sandefur and junior midfielder Josh Lavin, all received honorable mentions.

The Firebirds finished their latest campaign 10-5-1 under head coach Joe Waldron, falling to Topeka-Washburn Rural 4-1 in the 6A regional title match. The Chesty Lions’ first season under the command of head coach Joe Comparato was cut short in the postseason with a 3-1 loss at Mill Valley in the 6A regional semifinal. LHS finished its campaign 8-8-0.

2023 Coach of the Year:

• Jamie Kelly, Shawnee Mission East

2023 Players of the Year:

• Beck Rettenmaier, senior midfielder, Shawnee Mission East

• Sergio Hernandez, junior forward, Shawnee Mission West

• Sam DeLong, senior defender, Olathe West

• Kael Taylor, sophomore goalkeeper, Olathe West

Find the complete All-Sunflower League list here.

Baldwin, Eudora, Tonganoxie widespread throughout All-Frontier League team

Nineteen members of the Baldwin, Eudora and Tonganoxie boys soccer teams appeared on the All-Frontier League team, including Player of the Year Cooper Carr. Making his sophomore campaign at Baldwin a memorable one, Carr racked up 18 goals this season — fourth all-time in school history — along with his 14 assists at midfield.

In addition to Carr, Baldwin featured 10 more players on this year’s All-Frontier list with junior defender Dylan Kuntz joining Carr on the first team. Sophomore defender Ethan Smasal and senior midfielder Dylan Patterson, who racked up 15 assists during his final year — fifth in school history for a single season — on the second team.

Baldwin nabbed honorable mention for seven players: sophomore defender Leo Schoenberger, junior midfielder Tito Biles, senior midfielder Ian Rimmer, junior midfielder Nicholas Johnson, junior goalkeeper Gus Boyle (10 shutouts, tying the school record), senior midfielder Aiden Jameson and senior forward Joey Ziembicki.

The Bulldogs finished their latest campaign 15-4-0 under head coach Matt McCune after opening the year 11-1, the best start in school history. They watched their hard-fought season come to an end with a 2-0 loss to Bishop Ward at home in the 4A state quarterfinal match.

On the Eudora side, senior midfielders Derek Lehmann and Kaden Kerr landed on the first team, with senior midfielder Christian Koehn and junior goalkeeper Nate Steinlage making the second team. Cardinals on the honorable mention list include senior midfielder Ayden Ramirez, junior midfielder Brayden Hayes, senior defender Sergio Medrano and junior defender Daniel Peterson.

The Cardinals finished the season 10-7-1 under head coach Darren Erpelding with a 6-0 shutout loss at Roeland Park’s Bishop Miege in the 4A regional title match.

Tonganoxie landed five players on the All-Frontier League team, including first-team senior midfielder Andrea Columbano. Senior midfielder Gavin Shupe and sophomore defender Lachlan McRae earned second-team honors and two more Tonganoxie members – junior forward Emery Weiser and senior goalkeeper Jackson McWilliams – picked up honorable mention recognition.

The Chieftains finished the season 8-9-1 under head coach Jon Orndorff with a 3-1 loss at Prairie Village-Kansas City Christian in the 4A regional title match.

Find the complete All-Frontier League list here.

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