WICHITA – Flawless all season, Shawnee Mission East’s defense and goalkeeping had one last test before the Lancers could call themselves state champs. 

East was protecting a one-goal lead when Dodge City turned up the pressure down the stretch of the Class 6A state title game on Saturday at Stryker Sports Complex. 

Just as they had done all season, the Lancers held firm, securing a 1-0 win over the previously-unbeaten Red Demons.

When the clock hit zeroes, the emotions came pouring out of the Lancers as they celebrated the program’s first state championship. 

“I was crying. I’ve never cried for anything before,” senior forward Brady Neuman said. 

“I honestly blacked out,” senior goalkeeper Lukas Lowry said. “It was amazing.”

For East coach Jamie Kelly, it was a feeling of relief that his 19-player senior class would be rewarded for the work they put into the program. The Lancers took heartbreaking losses in the quarterfinals in each of the previous two seasons. 

“It’s nice to feel the emotions of all that hard work getting us the ultimate goal,” Kelly said. “A lot of tears from our coaching staff. Coach Brent Williams and I have been doing this for 18 years together. It’s really, really nice to hoist that trophy and celebrate with the players, coaches and the Shawnee Mission East community back home.”
 

Neuman netted the game’s only with 7:02 left before halftime,  finishing on the doorstep after receiving a pass from Ben Perkins. 

“We were able to get them unbalanced a little bit and George (Hartman) played a great gap pass to Ben, who was able to slot it into Brady,” Kelly said. “We’ve scored goals like that all season long. Brady does such a good job of getting to that spot to be able to redirect in.”

From there, East’s defense shined, led by goalkeeper Lukas Lowry and its back four of Miles Kroening, Cooper Brende, Chris Hastert and Cooper Hardin.

“Every game our defense is just stellar, they don’t let anything up,” Neuman said. “It was a long way to go (after the goal), but I knew we could get the job done.”

“The big point everybody made at halftime was we had to stay locked in for 40 minutes,” Lowry said. “Got to give it to every one of those guys, they stayed locked in and we got the job done.”

The Lancers (19-1) finished with just eight goals allowed on the season. They didn’t surrender a goal in the playoffs.

“We’re hoisting this trophy because of our back line and goalkeeping,” Kelly said. 

Dodge City (20-1) came up one win short in its bid to become the only progam in the state with three undefeated state championship seasons. The Red Demons had perfect seasons in 2016 and 2020. 
 

Dodge made the championship game despite losing its top two goal scorers, Rodrigo De La Cruz and Zahit Garibay,  to injuries along the way. Garibay broke his collarbone in the quarterfinals. 

“That just shows the grit that these boys have,” Dodge City coach Saul Hernandez said. “... We gave it our all. I’m really proud of the guys. We knew it was going to be a one or two-goal game. We fought to the end and that’s really what matters.”

“Saul and the coaching staff have done such a fantastic job there," Kelly said of the Red Demons.  “I have the utmost respect for him. Their boys play so hard every single year. We knew it was going to be a challenge. I told quite a few people back home that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a one-goal game either way.”

This year marked the 11th time the Lancers had made it to the quarterfinals and fourth time in the semifinals but their previous highest finish was third place. 

“When I’ve told people before that we’ve never won a state championship and we’ve never even played for a state championship, they're actually kind of surprised, because we’ve had such a great program, top to bottom, for several years,” Kelly said. “It’s hard to get to this point. 

“It’s a testament to all the boys to be able to persevere, fight through and dig deep. This is for everybody back home. This is a big win.”

The Lancers will have to reload next season after losing 19 seniors but Neuman said a new standard has been set.

“It’s just the start,” Neuman said. “Everybody’s going to look back at this year and say, 
‘That was the first, and now we’ve got to do it again.’”