Back to the pitch for Tonganoxie soccer
The Tonganoxie High soccer program has experienced unprecedented success under head coach Brian Kroll.
Now entering his sixth year at the helm, Kroll has guided THS through several playoff runs, including a state runner-up finish in 2012. The squad became the first-ever THS team in any sport to compete in a state championship game.
This year’s squad could make another one of those big postseason pushes.
Gone is much of the team’s backfield on last year’s squad that finished 14-4-1 after losing, 3-0, to Bishop Miege in the Class 4-1A state quarterfinals.
The squad lost a slew of players to graduation, including captains Garrett Martin and Kyle Caldwell, Thomas Minor and Asher Huseman, who set a school record with 63 goals in three seasons.
Those are big roster positions to fill, but Kroll sees the potential this year’s team possesses.
“They’re young and scrappy,” Kroll said. “This is the best group of talent that I have ever had.”
The THS coach certainly has led some talented teams — the Chieftains have reached the state quarterfinals three of the last four years.
But he explained that those teams also had lots of heart. This team could have that same identity as it gets some matches played.
The Chieftains return several seniors for the 2015 campaign, including Tyler Novotney, captain Dawson Jones and goalie Alex Kroll, all three of whom the coach has pegged as top performers for this year’s team.
Kroll has continued to evaluate his team in the preseason, but also has had to make some difficult decisions — with so many out for the sport, he’s had to make a handful of cuts.
The coach said the ideal team sizes are 18 players on the varsity squad and 18 on junior varsity. That means a few players didn’t make the cut before Tuesday’s Red-White game.
He said he used a detail process to determine which players would make up this year’s squad.
“You don’t want to cut that diamond in the rough,” Kroll said, referring to a player who might have raw talent but needs more time to develop.
Tuesday’s scrimmage offered a chance for the team to play in front of fans in an intrasquad matchup, but THS already will start playing actual games later this week.
Tonganoxie opens Friday against Baldwin at home.
The Chieftains and Bulldogs will compete on the earliest possible day Kansas high school soccer teams can play, per Kansas High School Activities Association rules.
If the Chieftains were able to advance to another state appearance, they would compete Nov. 6 and 7 in the Class 4-1A at Towanda-Circle High School in the Wichita area. The top four teams compete at state. Previous playoff rounds generally are played on the higher-seeded team’s home field.
Class 6A state contests will be played at the Olathe-College Boulevard Activity Center and 5A at Topeka’s Hummer Sports Complex.
Friday’s games against Baldwin start with the junior varsity game at 4:30 p.m. and varsity at 6 p.m. This year’s games will take place at Chieftain Park.