Blue Devils (11-1-1) scheduled to meet Dodge City at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at home in first-round playoff action
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Jayhawk Conference champions! For the first time in the 9-year history of women’s soccer at Kansas City Kansas Community College, the Blue Devils stand No. 1 – and looking for more.
The championship comes despite the Blue Devils’ first loss of the season, a 2-1 setback at Coffeyville Saturday. The loss left the Blue Devils 11-1-1, a full game ahead of West Division champion Cowley which finished 10-2-1 after a 3-2 loss to Barton County Saturday.
KCKCC, which scored more goals (43) than any Division I team in the Jayhawk and gave up fewer goals (9), took a 2-1 decision from Cowley in their only meeting this season.
The Blue Devils are right back in action Tuesday when they play host to Dodge City (4-9) at 6:30 p.m. in opening round play in the NJCAA Region VI Division I playoffs. An eight-team field, a berth in the NJCAA national tournament goes to the winner.
Semifinals are scheduled for Saturday in Wichita with the championship contest Sunday. The national tournament will be played June 3-8 in Evans, Georgia.
The Blue Devils ended seven years of frustration last year when coach Shawn Uhlenhake’s team finished 13-4, the most wins ever. Until that breakout season, the Blue Devils were never close to a break-even season and were a combined 24-75-7 over those seasons.
Coffeyville took a 1-0 halftime lead on an unassisted goal by Jaden Davis and made it 2-0 on Emile Hannah’s goal before KCKCC finally got its lone goal in the final 10 minutes, Maddie Broeker scoring on an assist from Melissa Siegel.
“We didn’t play very well, kind of a reality check,” Uhlenhake said. “We’ve gotten away with sloppy play the last of games and it caught up with us. We just couldn’t connect a thing; a very difficult game to watch.”
Dodge City and KCKCC will be meeting for the second time this season, the Blue Devils winning 5-0 at home in the fourth game of the season.
“Dodge has had some interesting scores lately and scoring some goals,” warned Uhlenhake. “It’s basically a new season now. I hope we can start it like we did the start of the season.”