Kietzmann scored four goals for the Chieftains in one of just a few games that was played Monday due to field and weather conditions.

Tonganoxie now will play in the a Class 4-3-2-1A regional final starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at home against Bishop Ward (4-8-1). The Cyclones blanked Atchison (4-8-1), 2-0, in the other Region 8 semifinal. THS improved to 10-4 with the victory against the Junior Ravens, who ended their season at 2-9-1.

Sonntag earns hat trick

The final tuneup before the postseason went well for the Tonganoxie High boys soccer team.

Tonganoxie shut out Frontier League rival Eudora, 6-0, Thursday at Beatty Field. With the victory, THS finished the regular season at 9-4 overall and 6-2 in Frontier League play.

Junior Grayson Sonntag had a big day against the Cardinals, scoring Tonganoxie’s first goal and then two more in the span of about 2 minutes in the second half for the hat trick. He scored three of the team’s six goals.

Sophomore Brenan Kuzmic scored Tonganoxie’s second goal in the first half with a nifty floater that, with a little help from the wind, dropped over the gloves of a leaping Eudora goalie. The ball dropped behind the goalie and into the south goal, making the score 2-0. Sonntag’s back-to-back goals made it 4-0. His third goal came after pursuing the ball in the box against a Eudora defender. He collided with that defender and then the EHS defender got tangled up with his goalie, which helped Sonntag make a clear path to the goal.

Senior Dakotah Coates connected for a penalty kick in the north goal and made it 5-0. Senior Jimmy Larkin then knocked in one last goal for the Chieftains in the second half.

Sonntag almost had a four-goal night. The Eudora goalie knocked down Sonntag’s penalty kick in the first half, sending the Eudora crowd into a frenzy and igniting the Cardinal team. EHS appeared to have some momentum with the save, but the Cards (6-7-1 and 1-3-1) couldn’t capitalize and Tonganoxie eventually registered the shutout. It marked Tonganoxie’s fifth shutout of the season. THS is 5-2 in shutout matches this season. All but one of them, a 1-0 victory against Topeka High, involved Frontier League foes.

THS coach Jon Orndorff said his team played well in its final tune-up before the postseason.

And, Orndorff is happy to have home-field advantage as long as the team can.

“We play really well at home,” Orndorff said about this year’s squad, which is 9-1 on the Beatty Field turf this season (after Monday’s regional victory).

If Tonganoxie can win the regional championship this Thursday, they will take on the winner of Regional 7.

That all-private school region has No. 1 Heritage Christian out of Olathe (10-3-1), No. 2 Kansas City Christian (7-4-1) from Prairie Village, No. 3 Bishop Miege (5-5-3) out of Roeland Park and No. 4 Maranatha Christian Academy (0-6-0) from Shawnee.

The regional champ with the better record will host that match, so if any team other than Heritage Christian advances, Tonganoxie will be the host team.

“One game at a time,” Orndorff said. “We hope the stars align in our favor and we see what happens.”