Potent Dodge City again favorite to capture WAC boys soccer crown
DODGE CITY RED DEMONS
Head Coach: Saul Hernandez (6th season)
If recent history is any indication, the road to the WAC championship runs through Boot Hill, more known as Dodge City High School.
The 2020 season will likely not be any different. Head coach Saul Hernandez enters his sixth season at the Red Demon helm and his teams have been in the battle for the top spot nearly every year.
The Demons took the WAC title in 2019, posting a 7-1-0 record and 15-3 overall but just barely eked out the league crown over Liberal, 6-1-1. The Demons went on to reach the state finals and placed third in Class 6A.
With a veteran cast returning, Hernandez is excited about his team’s prospects for 2020.
“This season looks like we are going to be strong as return 9 starters,” Hernandez said. “The team worked hard in strength and conditioning in the summer as well as in the soccer practices. The team is hungry to return to state and compete for the WAC title.”
The Demons lost all-stater Diego Olivares to graduation along with Mervedi Nhongolo but all-state selection Alan Lopez, now a senior, returns after scoring 23 goals and notching 9 assists his junior year. Fellow seniors Erik Martinez (11 goals, 8 assists) and Dani Rojas (3 goals, 3 assists) were second-team all-state and also are back for their final season.
The Demons will be strong in goal as returning keeper Carlos Sanchez recorded 10 shutouts and had 58 saves in 2019.
2020 Schedule: Sept. 1—WICHITA KAPAUN; Sept. 3—at Bishop Carroll; Sept. 8—MANHATTAN; Sept. 15—at Liberal; Sept. 17—at Hays; Sept. 22—GARDEN CITY; Sept. 24—at Great Bend; Sept. 29—at Manhattan; Oct. 1—at Garden City; Oct. 6—HAYS; Oct. 8—at Hays-TMP; Oct. 13—GREAT BEND; Oct. 16—at Wichita Kapaun (Stryker Complex); Oct. 17—WICHITA TRINITY; Oct. 22—LIBERAL.
GARDEN CITY BUFFALOES
Head Coach: Jose Vital (1st season)
The sideline will have a new look for the Garden City Buffaloes soccer programs in 2020-21 as Jose Vital takes over the head coaching reins of one of the most solid programs in the Western Athletic Conference.
The 2019 season, though, seemed like an aberration for the Buffaloes, as they finished 3-4-1 in the WAC for a third-place finish but went just 7-9-1 and a first-round exit from the Class 6A state playoffs. One of their top moments came when they snared a tie with Liberal during the regular season that kept the Redskins from tying for first with Dodge City in the WAC race.
From last year’s squad, the Buffs lost only one of their top players in Christian Hernandez, but Vital will be emboldened with the return of Rodrigo Oropeza, a senior center-midfielder attacker and senior defensive center-back Moses Lares, a first-team all-WAC performer.
“We had a good team, but it was very young,” Vital said of the 2019 Buffaloes. “This year, I expect to see more leadership among the many seniors we now have. Leadership must always be a team effort, it can’t be a two-man job. I’m excited to have Rodrigo and Moses back.”
Vital said the WAC will be tough once again, but looks for steady improvement from his first team as head coach.
“We have been working hard to make ourselves better,” Vital said. “We are seeking success in our conference and we are hungry to win.”
2020 Schedule: Sept. 1—at Hays; Sept. 7-10-12—Goddard Tournament; Sept. 15—HAYS-TMP; Sept. 17—at Liberal; Sept. 22—at Dodge City; Sept. 24-HAYS; Sept. 29—GREAT BEND; Oct. 1—DODGE CITY; Oct. 6—LIBERAL; Oct. 13—at Wichita Trinity; Oct. 15—at Wichita Kapaun.
Great Bend Panthers
Head Coach: Jesus Loera Jr. (5th season)
While his team finished with a .500 season mark of 9-9-1, Great Bend boys soccer coach Jesus Loera Jr., could look to the postseason as the bright spot.
Despite finishing fourth in the tough Western Athletic Conference with a 3-5 record, the Panthers headed to the postseason and won a regional semifinal contest before taking then undefeated and No. 1 seed Goddard Eisenhower into overtime before dropping a 2-1 decision in the Class 5A regional title game.
It proved once again that the WAC is among the elite leagues in high school soccer.
Loera did lose four key players off that team Israel Franco Jr., Francisco Garcia, Jesus Sanchez and Humberto Alonzo. However, he returns three major cogs of the 2019 team in Jonathan Pasos, Jaime Arellanes and Juan Sanchez.
Loera says that the postseason efforts will benefit the team in 2020.
“We have a dedicated group of young men this season that have the desire to improve,” Loera said. “The winning attitude of the team is going to allow us to grow and be able to get to the level that we need to be able to compete well in the postseason.”
With a young, but talented group, Loera looks forward to seeing how his team progresses through the campaign. “Half the roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores, but they’ve put in the effort to learn their responsibilities.”
2020 Schedule: Sept. 3—LIBERAL; Sept. 8—HAYS; Sept. 15—at Hays; Sept. 17—MAIZE SOUTH; Sept. 19—at Wichita Trinity Academy; Sept. 22—HAYS; Sept. 24—DODGE CITY; Sept. 29—at Garden City; Oct. 6—HAYS/TMP; Oct. 8—GARDEN CITY; Oct. 13—at Dodge City; Oct. 19—at Liberal; Oct. 22-at McPherson.
HAYS HIGH INDIANS
Head Coach: Silas Hibbs (4th season)
There’s always a challenge in the Western Athletic Conference boys soccer season to find a way to finish in the top two or three teams. That’s because Dodge City and Liberal have both proven to be contenders beyond the regular season.
Such has been the experience for Hays High coach Silas Hibbs, who enters his fourth year guiding the Indians’ program. In 2019, the Indians placed fifth and with a strong core group of returners, he hopes to move up the ladder in the standings this season.
Hibbs did lose a pair of starters in Matthew Goodale and Tucker Johnson, but he welcomes back the remainder of his 2019 starting lineup. That group includes Blake Steiben, Diego Muller, Alecziz Cano, Brandon Musil, Jake Taliaferro, Trayton Ro and Landen Clark. Steiben, a senior, and Muller, a sophomore, earned second-team all-WAC honors in 2019.
The number of experienced players, even from a team that won just two matches, is reason for Hibbs’ optimism of the upcoming season.
“Even with the number of returners, we are still relatively young with mostly sophomores and freshmen,” Hibbs said. “The players have put in significant time and effort this summer and are excited to mix things up this season.”
2020 Schedule: Sept. 1—GARDEN CITY; Sept. 8—at Great Bend; Sept. 10—SALINA CENTRAL; Sept. 12—WICHITA WARRIORS; Sept. 15—GREAT BEND; Sept. 17—DODGE CITY; Sept. 22—at Great Bend; Sept. 24—at Garden City; Sept. 29—JUNCTION CITY; Oct. 1—at Liberal; Oct. 6—at Dodge City; Oct. 8—LIBERAL; Oct. 10—at Baldwin; Oct. 17—CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF WICHITA; Oct. 20—WICHITA TRINITY ACADEMY; Oct. 22—HAYS-TMP.
LIBERAL REDSKINS
Head Coach: Lori Navarro (26th season)
One veteran coach can easily see how close a team can be to a special season and nobody knows that better than Liberal High soccer coach Lori Navarro.
Now entering her 26th season, Navarro saw her 2019 Redskins’ boys team come within an eyelash of winning the WAC championship. A tie with third-place Garden City cost the Redskins an opportunity to share the crown with Dodge City despite the fact that Liberal was the only team to hand the Demons a league setback.
The Redskins went 11-6-1 after losing a heartbreaking 2-1 (4-3 penalty kicks) 6A regional semifinal battle to Lawrence-Free State.
Three key players graduated from that team – Levi Flores, Victor Limon and Christian Solvabarro. But Navarro returns a strong group, including leading scorer A.J. Ramirez, who finished with 15 goals and 18 assists, and defenders Darius Archuleta and Kevin Guerrero. Ramirez made all-WAC first team while Guerrero and Archuleta were named to the second team.
“We are very young this season and have low numbers,” Navarro said. “But we should be able to compete and do well as is expected.”
2020 Schedule: Sept. 3—at Great Bend; Sept. 10—at Bishop Carroll; Sept. 15—DODGE CITY; Sept. 17—GARDEN CITY; Sept. 22—at Wichita Kapaun; Sept. 29—at Hays-TMP; Oct. 1—HAYS; Oct. 6—at Garden City; Oct. 8—at Hays; Oct. 19—GREAT BEND; Oct. 22—at Dodge City.
Coaches Preseason Poll: 1. Dodge City; 2. Liberal; 3. Garden City; 4. Great Bend; 5. Hays.
