WICHITA – Mill Valley coach Jason Pendleton will admit he had serious reservations about his son, Nico, joining the Jaguar soccer team for his senior season. 

A product of the Sporting KC Academy, Nico Pendleton was eager to get a taste of high school soccer before moving on to play at Marquette University.

But it took some convincing to get his father on board. 

“It was a really tough (decision),” Jason Pendleton said, “and to be quite honest, I advised him against it, because I thought it was going to be frustrating for him. Him and I are like water and oil sometimes.”

But once Nico solidified plans to graduate high school early and go to Marquette in January, his father signed off on the decision to play for the Jaguars. 

“The opportunity to have the full high school experience, I didn’t want him to look back and regret not having that opportunity,” Jason said. 

“I just wanted to have fun and play with my friends,” Nico said.  

The decision ultimately resulted in a moment the Pendletons and the senior-laden Jaguars will cherish forever. 

Nico Pendleton helped deliver Mill Valley’s first state soccer championship in program history, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over defending champion Olathe West in the Class 6A title game on Saturday at Stryker Complex. 

Pendleton’s game-winner came with 12:23 left in the second half after he bended a corner kick off the outstretched hands of the keeper into the lower right side of the net. 

“Honestly, I was just trying to get it in the mix,” the midfielder said. “Didn’t really expect it to go in.

“It felt good off my foot, for sure, and then I saw it in the air a little bit, and it looked like it was going to go in.”
 

Mill Valley goalkeeper Colin Riley and the Jaguars’ back line held up in the closing minutes to preserve the shutout and cap off a tremendous defensive showing. 

“I thought it was an incredible, high-level high school soccer game,” Coach Pendleton said. “Two really good teams that were battling. I thought we created some dangerous opportunities and their goalkeeper (Cole Morris) came up big, and we were able to make a play on a corner kick late in the game and take advantage of that.

“To shut those guys out, for our back line and our goalkeeper, that’s a huge, huge accomplishment because they’ve been putting up a lot of goals against some really good teams. Super, super proud of our resiliency and our effort today.”
 

The shutout and Pendelton’s goal enabled a whopping 15 seniors to go out on a high note for the Jaguars (17-1-1). The senior class is comprised of midfielders Pendleton, Luke Shideler, Carson McElroy, Brant Benson, Cody Geis, Jacob Gilmore and Owen Prosser, forwards Dylan Ashford and Toby Kornis, defenders  Matthew Morgan, Owen Peachee, Jackson Ward and Nicholas Hodson, and goalkeepers Riley and Alexander Shank.

“Not many people thought we would be 6A state champs, but all of us in the locker room, we believed it,” Riley said. “It was a great experience with all of us together. I enjoyed every moment of it, and I’m going to miss it.”

Riley posted his 10th shutout of the season and second straight after the Jaguars blanked Washburn Rural 1-0 in Friday’s semifinal. 

“Our back line did fantastic. Giving up zero goals in two games in Wichita is not easy to do,” Riley said. “We really focused on not letting them get behind us and keeping them up top, and I thought we did fantastic on that, all around.”

Mill Valley, which moved up a class this year, went 11-1-1 in the Sunflower League. Olathe West, which captured the 6A title last year on a golden goal, handed the Jaguars their only loss (2-0) on Sept. 20. 

“We thought both the goals were off mistakes that we made,” Jason Pendleton said of the previous meeting with the Owls. “And we missed a penalty kick early to go up 1-0 and some other things. It was a 2-0 loss but we felt like we easily could have won that game and come out on the other side. I think coming in, we were definitely confident we would be in the game late in the second half and have a chance to win it.”

Pendleton used the wind to his advantage on the corner. 

“We talked about it before, with the wind blowing that way, that if you could hit it and whip it pretty hard, it was going to (create a lot of pressure),” Jason Pendleton said. “It was one of those things where I think the soccer gods were smiling on us today.”

Pendleton also scored the game-winner in a 1-0 win over Washburn Rural in Friday’s semifinal. Pendelton, who signed a MLS NEXT Pro Amateur contract and played in a pair of games for Sporting KC II last spring, finished his high school season with 14 goals and 10 assists. 

“It was a challenge (coaching him), because it’s hard for me to separate dad versus coach, and it’s hard for him to separate being son versus player,” Pendleton said. “We had moments where it may have been more tense at home than it should have been, or we had to have some conservations about other things. But all in all, that’s just a part of coaching and I’m just thankful to have this opportunity.”

“It was a great decision (to play high school soccer),” Nico said. “I don’t regret a thing.”
 

Olathe West came up short in its bid for a third state title in just six years as a program. The Owls finished 18-3 after earning a 3-2 win over previously unbeaten Dodge City in the semifinals. 

“The game of soccer can rip your heart out, just like it can build you heart up,” Olathe West coach Matt Trumpp said. “We hate to go out like that, but it was two good teams, the best teams in 6A. Could have gone either way, and that’s the way it goes sometimes."

Olathe West loses 10 seniors, including forward Gage Daniels, who has been selected to play in the High School All-American Game. 

“I love our kids. Their so high-character,” Trumpp said. “Our program is six years old and they’ve been to three finals. I don’t know of any programs that have done that ever at the 6A level. I’m really, really proud of these kids and who they are and what they’re about.”
 

It was Coach Pendelton’s fourth state title of his career. At Blue Valley Southwest, he coached two girls' teams and one boys’ squad to championships. 

“Every opportunity I’ve had to be a part of teams where we’ve won state championships, it’s about the relationships with those kids,” Pendleton said. “Those kids that just experienced this are going to have this memory for the rest of their lives, and that’s the part that I relish the most."
 

DODGE CITY BOUNCES BACK FOR THIRD

Dodge City regrouped to claim third place after suffering its only loss of the season on Friday to Olathe West in the semifinals. 

After Washburn Rural evened it up at 1 with under 10 minutes left, Dodge City senior Irwin Macias scored the game-winner off an assist from Francisco Hernandez with 1:06 left. 

The Red Demons finished with a 20-1 record. 

Mario Olivares put the Red Demons up front early with a quick goal.

Washburn Rural’s Benett Hellauer scored the equalizer for the Junior Blues before Macias’ answer. Rural finished with a 16-4 record.