REGIONAL CHAMPS
Panthers roll past Cougars
BY JIM MISUNAS
SALINA – Great Bend’s Chiny Sanchez and Dani Franco are truly the Panthers’ dynamic duo.
Sanchez delivered a pair of perfect corner kicks and scored the clinching goal in the Panthers’ 3-1 victory over Salina South for a 5A regional soccer championship. Franco, the Panthers’ all-time leading scorer assisted on Sanchez’s goal with a perfect pass right before halftime.
The Panthers play at Maize South (15-3) Tuesday for their first 5A quarterfinal game since 2012 when they lost to Liberal. The teams have played three common opponents. Maize South beat Newton 3-1, Salina South 3-2 and lost to Salina Central 2-1. Great Bend beat Newton 4-1; Salina South 3-1 and split with Salina Central, winning 3-2 and losing 6-3.
Sanchez’s first corner was deflected to Junior Franco, who
scored against goalie Eduardo Picasco at the 31:10 mark. Sanchez’s perfect
floating corner kick was converted by Juan Sanchez at the 23-minute mark.
Sanchez signals to his teammates whether he’s passing for the front post or back post.
“I look for whoever is open,” Sanchez said. “I try to drive it just right, not too high or too low to get an easy header. We’ve been working on our set pieces. It really came through for us today.”
Great Bend coach Jesus Loera selected Sanchez for corner kicks to provide the Panthers with a taller attacker on set pieces.
“That’s something we threw it today to give us height in the middle,” Loera said. “Chiny did a great job placing them. We’ll probably stick with him.”
Franco supplied a nifty assist at the 13:10 mark to Sanchez’s blast for the clinching first-half goal. Salina South’s Leo Torres scored at the 14:08 mark for a 2-1 score.
“It’s great to see the chemistry has grown between Dani and Chiny,” Loera said.” It’s usually one of them with a score or an assist. They’re doing a phenomenal job working together.”
Sanchez said the Panthers achieved their goal of attacking offensively from the start.
“It’s really big to get a good start,” he said. “We’re playing really well as a team and getting into our rhythm. It’s defense and offense, everything.”
As Sanchez has caught fire, so have the Panthers.
“I’ve got my mind set right because it’s crunch time,” Sanchez said. “I’ve improved over the season. It’s natural working well with Dani.”
Loera believed the Panthers had great potential.
“I’m pleased,” Loera said. “These guys have worked hard. We played three tough games in four days.”
Great Bend (9-10) upset No. 1 West seed Salina Central (13-4) and Salina South (10-8) in back-to-back games.
5A WEST REGIONALS
SALINA—Great Bend 4, Newton 1; Great Bend 3, Salina Central 2; Salina South 3, Valley Center 2, OT; THURSDAY—Great Bend 3, Salina South 1
ANDOVER—Arkansas City 3, Goddard 2; Andover Central 7, Arkansas City 0; Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel 3, Wichita Heights 1; THURSDAY—Kapaun-Mt. Carmel 2, Andover Central 1
MAIZE—Maize South 4, Wichita Northwest 0; Goddard-Eisenhower 3, Maize 1; THURSDAY—Maize South 3, Eisenhower 2
MCPHERSON—McPherson; Wichita Kapaun-Mt. Carme; THURSDAY—Kapaun-Mt. Carmel 1, McPherson 0
TUESDAY'S WEST QUARTERFINALS
Great Bend 9-10 at Maize South 15-3
Kapaun-Mt. Carmel 10-7-1 at Wichita Carroll 14-4
5A EAST REGIONALS
EMPORIA—DeSoto 1, Emporia 0 (5-3 penalty kicks); Blue Valley Southwest 10, Topeka West 0; THURSDAY—Blue Valley Southwest 7, DeSoto 2
KANSAS CITY—Bonner Springs 1, Highland Park 0; KC Washington 6, Bonner Springs 0; Spring Hill 2, KC Turner 0; THURSDAY—KC Washington 4, Spring Hill 2
PITTSBURG—Pittsburg 3, KC Schlagle 2; St. Thomas Aquinas 6, Topeka Seaman 0; THURSDAY—St. Thomas Aquinas 6, Pittsburg 0
TOPEKA—Basehor 4, Lansing 0; Shawnee Heights 5, Basehor 1; Lenexa St. James 3, KC Sumner 0; THURSDAY—St. James 3, Shawnee Heights 1
TUESDAY'S EAST QUARTERFINALS
Lenexa St. James 9-8-1 at KC Washington 16-1
St. Thomas Aquinas 13-5 at Blue Valley Southwest 13-4
6A WEST REGIONALS
DODGE CITY—Dodge City 3, Wichita West 0; Campus 4, Wichita North 0; THURSDAY—Dodge City 2, Campus 1
LIBERAL—Liberal 4, Lawrence High 0; Derby 2, Lawrence Free State 1 (6-5 penalty kicks); THURSDAY—Derby 1, Liberal 0
MANHATTAN—Hutchinson 7, Junction City 0; Manhattan 9, Hutchinson 0; Garden City 3, Topeka High 0; THURSDAY—Manhattan 4, Garden City 0
TOPEKA—Wichita South 5, Gardner-Edgerton 1; Washburn Rural 5, Wichita South 1; Wichita East 3, Wichita Southeast 0; THURSDAY—Washburn Rural 3, Wichita East 2
TUESDAY'S WEST QUARTERFINALS
Dodge City 16-2 at Manhattan 16-2
Derby 14-4 at Washburn Rural 16-1-1
6A EAST REGIONALS
OLATHE—SM North 1, Blue Valley North 0; Olathe Northwest 1, SM North 0; SM Northwest 2, KC Harmon 0; THURSDAY—SM Northwest 4, Olathe Northwest 0
TOPEKA—SM South 4, Olathe North 2; Mill Valley 3, SM South 2; SM West 3, Olathe South 2, (2 OT); THURSDAY—SM West 3, Mill Valley 1
OLATHE—Olathe West 3, Blue Valley 2; SM East 1, Blue Valley West 0; THURSDAY—SM East 2, Olathe West 0
OLATHE—Olathe East 3, Blue Valley NW 1; Leavenworth 5, KC Wyandotte 1; THURSDAY—Olathe East 4, Leavenworth 0
TUESDAY'S 6A EAST QUARTERFINALS
SM Northwest 11-4-3 at Olathe East 14-3-1
SM West 12-5-1 at SM East 11-3-4
TUESDAY'S 4A WEST QUARTERFINALS
Winfield 10-7-1 at Buhler 14-2-2
Topeka Hayden 8-10 at Hays-Thomas More Prep 8-7
TUESDAY'S 4A EAST QUARTERFINALS
KC Christian 9-7-2 at Baldwin 12-5-1
Olathe Heritage 11-6 at SM Miege 11-5-2
COFFEYVILLE—Mulvane7, El Dorado 0; Coffeyville 4, Mulvane 0; TMP 4, Rose Hill 3; FINALS—TMP 3, Coffeyville 0
BUHLER—Buhler 10, Circle 0; Berean Academy 6, Independence 1; FINALS—Buhler 3, Berean Academy 0
LAWRENCE—Wichita Trinity 6, Lawrence Seabury 0; Topeka Hayden 1, Wichita Trinity 0; FINALS—Topeka Hayden 3, Wichita Trinity 1
AUGUSTA—Wichita Independent 2, Augusta 1; Winfield 3, Wichita Classical 2; FINALS—Winfield 2, Wichita Independent 0
KANSAS CITY—Atchison 4, Columbus 1; KC Piper 8, Atchison 0; KC Christian 3, Atchison Maur Hill 0; FINALS—KC Christian 2, KC Piper 0
BALDWIN—Baldwin 6, Maranatha 1; Eudora 2, Tonganoxie 0; FINALS—Baldwin 4, Eudora 1
SHAWNEE—SM Miege 6, KC Ward 0; Louisburg 3, Ottawa 1; FINALS—SM Miege 8, Louisburg 0
OLATHE—Olathe Heritage 5, Fort Scott 0; Paola 10, Riverton 0; FINALS—Olathe Heritage 2, Paola 1.
WESTERN ATHLETIC
Liberal 7-1 14-4
Dodge City 6-2 16-2
Garden City 4-4 12-6
Great Bend 3-5 9-10
Hays High 0-8 6-11
LIBERAL (7-1, 14-3)—W Lamar, Colo. 10-0; W Great Bend 10-0; W Wichita Trinity 7-2; W Wichita Heights 2-0; L Salina Central 2-3; L Dodge City 1-2; W Garden City 3-2; W Wichita Classical 10-0; W Hays High 4-1; W Garden City 2-1; W Hays High 5-3; L Wichita East 1-2; W Wichita Trinity 4-2; W Wichita Heights 6-2; W Great Bend 7-1; W—Dodge City 3-1; W—Lawrence High 4-0; L—Derby 0-1
DODGE CITY (6-2, 16-2)— W Lamar, Colo. 10-0; W Wichita East 3-0; W Derby 2-0; W Wichita Carroll 1-0, OT; W Liberal 2-1; W Hays High 3-0; W Garden City 3-0; W Great Bend 2-1; W Garden City 2-1; W Hays High 3-1; W Hays-TMP 4-0; L Great Bend 1-2; W Lawrence Free State 1-0; W SM South 4-1; L—Liberal 1-3; W—Wichita West 3-0; W—Campus 2-1; TUESDAY—at Manhattan
GARDEN CITY (4-4, 12-6)—W Hays High 1-0; W Buhler 1-0; W Goddard 6-0; W Eisenhower 3-2; W Hays-TMP 3-2; L Liberal 2-3; L Dodge City 0-3; W Hays High 2-1; W Great Bend 3-1; L Dodge City 1-2; L Liberal 1-2; W Great Bend 2-1; W Wichita North 1-0; L Wichita Heights 0-1; W Wichita Trinity 1-0; W—Hays-TMP 2-1; W—Topeka High 3-0; L—Manhattan 0-4
GREAT BEND (3-5, 9-10)—L Salina Central 3-6; L Liberal 0-10; L Wichita Heights 0-2; L Wichita Trinity 2-3; W Wichita South 4-0; W Hays High 2-1; W Hays High 2-1 L Dodge City 1-2; L Manhattan 1-6; L Garden City 1-3; W Hays-TMP 5-2; L Garden City 1-2; W Wichita Independent 10-0; W Dodge City 2-1; L Liberal 1-7; L—McPherson 3-4 (OT); W—Newton 4-1; W—Salina Central 3-2; W—Salina South 3-1; TUESDAY—at Maize South
HAYS HIGH (0-8, 6-11)—L Garden City 0-1; W Wichita Classical 4-2; W Topeka West 2-1; W Circle 4-0; L Wichita SE 0-3; L Great Bend 0-3; L Dodge City 0-3; L Great Bend 1-2; L Buhler 1-2; L Garden City 1-2; W Junction City 7-0; L Liberal 1-4; L Dodge City 1-3; L Liberal 3-5; W—Wichita Independent 9-0; W—Hays-TMP 3-1; L—McPherson 0-1
