Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Bishop Seabury players celebrate after winning a girls soccer regional championship match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
Bishop Seabury’s 1-0 victory over Baldwin on Thursday earned the program its first regional championship in school history, a triumph that was nearly three decades in the making.
“These girls are special,” said Ivo Ivanov, Seabury soccer head coach. “They wanted to defend our field. They wanted to defend the honor of our school; they wanted to represent their teachers, their parents, their community.
“And I felt like today, we defended every blade of grass on this field.”
Seabury has fielded solid teams in past years, but has too often witnessed its season come to a premature close at the hands of powerhouse Bishop Miege.
“For whatever reason, we always ended up playing Bishop Miege in the regional,” Ivanov said. “And the University of Bishop Miege is tough to beat.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Bishop Seabury’s Presley Peterson kicks the ball past Baldwin’s Audrey Searl for a goal during a girls soccer regional championship match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
But without Miege standing in their way, at least for this round, and a squad led by large crop of talented underclassmen, everything seemed to click into place for the Seahawks to break through and punch their ticket to the state quarterfinals.
The history-making goal was even knocked through by freshman, Presley Peterson, two minutes into the contest.
“I was not expecting to score two minutes in,” Peterson said. “I thought we were really going to have to work for our goals.”
Peterson lauded Ka’Neisha Price for her part in setting up the decisive goal.
“Ka’Neisha played me a great ball through,” Pressley said. “She caught the defenders drifting apart, and that led me to go and score.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Bishop Seabury’s Presley Peterson celebrates with teammates after her goal during a girls soccer regional championship match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
For a team defined by its offensive exploits during the regular season, it was Seabury’s defensive effort over the final 78 minutes of regulation that carried the Seahawks across the finish line.
That included a close shave with two minutes remaining in the second half. The play unfolded as Seabury sophomore Macy Ankenbauer swooped in to deflect a Baldwin shot that was headed for a wide-open net.
Ankenbauer, who piled up 20 goals and 20 assists on the season, was switched from midfield to center back for the game. That lineup switch put her as the defender directly in front of the goal, and the move paid off for the Seahawks.
“She made the goal line save at the end,” Ivanov said. “But she was also essential in stopping them on defense.”
Ivanov also lauded Zava Oldridge, Sydney Walter, Zoe Huebner, and Jillian Werner for their contributions to the lockdown defensive performance.
“We knew that on the outside, we were going to get beaten every once in a while because of their speed,” Ivanov said. “And we talked to the center defenders to help when the outside gets beaten, and they covered pretty well.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Bishop Seabury’s Amelia Rozzi smiles after making a save during a girls soccer regional championship match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
Seabury freshman goalie Amelia Rozzi was also impressed by the defensive effort, adding that a couple early saves helped her get locked in.
“Those stops gave me confidence,” Rozzi said.
Seabury, who entered the contest averaging more than five goals per game, had plenty of opportunities to extend its early advantage. But after the Bulldogs allowed that early goal, Baldwin goalie Audrey Searl made stops on nearly every shot that came her way.
Baldwin head coach Ryan Cox said that Searl, a junior, has markedly improved since taking up the sport last year.
“She’s really dedicated and is going to be a good netminder for us next year, too,” he said.
Ivanov noted that the matchup pitted Baldwin’s raw physicality against a technically skilled Seabury squad.
“The girls responded to a very physical team by not backing down and just battling,” he said. “I think we should have won this game in the first half. (Baldwin) made three goal line saves.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Baldwin’s Cami Collum takes a shot at the goal late in her team’s girls soccer regional championship match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
Seabury (14-3-0) takes the field Monday for the Class 4-1A state quarterfinals, when the team will face that fellow private school that played such a large role in this being the first regional title for the Seahawks.
Seabury will host Bishop Miege at 5 p.m. on May 25 at home. Miege (10-8-0) defeated Maranatha Christian Academy 8-0 in their regional semifinals match, then followed up by defeating the East’s No. 1 seed, Atchison, by the same margin.
Although the Seahawks will face a formidable foe, their coach is hoping that they’ll have an even stronger performance than they did in the regional finals.
“Frankly, this was not our best game today,” Ivanov said. “In terms of strategy communication, transition from defense to midfield to offense. We had a lot of weaknesses, and we need to clean those up for the next game because it’s going to be much harder.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Bishop Seabury’s Xeva Oldridge celebrates after her team won a girls soccer regional championship match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Bishop Seabury’s Presley Peterson poses with her team’s regional championship trophy while being held up on her teammates shoulders after a girls soccer match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Bishop Seabury’s players and coaches pose with the team’s regional championship trophy after a girls soccer match on May 21 at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence.
