WICHITA – Finding herself in penalty kicks with a state title on the line for the second straight year, Jamie Ricker changed her mental approach.

Ricker and Mill Valley were on the wrong end of last year’s championship match with Washburn Rural, losing the shootout 4-1.

When Saturday’s Class 6A final against Olathe Northwest reached the same stage after 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, Mill Valley’s senior goalkeeper was the most energized person at Stryker Complex.

“Last year before penalty kicks I was just kind of getting myself prepared, being quiet, keeping to myself,” Ricker said. “This year I decided that I was not going to take that route.

“I was going to try and hype myself up, get really excited and just try and convince myself that it was going to go my way and act like I already won.”

That confidence paid off. Ricker stopped all three Olathe Northwest attempts in the shootout while Mill Valley converted three penalties to win the tiebreaker 3-0 and secure a 1-0 victory for the program’s second state title in four seasons.

Ricker also earned the shutout in goal as a freshman in Mill Valley’s 2023 championship victory.

“She was amazing and she has been for four years. Now she gets to go out with two state titles,” Mill Valley coach Justin Crawford said.

The shootout was highlighted by a diving save from Ricker on Northwest’s second penalty kick. Ricker celebrated with a flex.

“When I was little, I used to do a signature move whenever I saved, and I did it again,” Ricker said. “It just felt so amazing to be able to do that again.”

“I just kept telling myself that I can't let myself lose my senior season. I was not going to be the reason that we lost again, and it just felt really good to be on the other end of it like I was my freshman year.”

Mill Valley knocked in three of its four penalty kick attempts, with Jenna Lloyd, Sydney Nash and Mallory Fitzgerald converting. Fitzgerald’s kick was the clincher.

Like Ricker, Crawford said he felt confident in his team’s chances heading into the shootout.

“I always feel like we're going to do the deed,” the second-year Jaguar coach said. “I don't have any worries. My team this year was amazing and we're just gonna go do what we have to do. It's been whatever it takes all season.”

Both Crawford and Olathe Northwest coach Chris Graham said they expected a tight battle. The Ravens and Jaguars played to a 2-2 draw in the regular season.

It was the first state championship game appearance for Northwest.

“We knew our work was cut out for us, but we felt like we'd earned the right to be here with them,” Graham said. “I thought we competed and I thought it was a pretty even game. Both teams had chances and they finished it in PKs and they deserve it.

“It’s tough (to have PKs decide the title game) but you have to have a decision somehow. It doesn't take away from how proud I am of my kids and how much they battled and how hard they were.”

Crawford also commended the Ravens.

“Coach Graham and that team, over the course of the last two years, has given us all we can handle,” Crawford said. “I told him: If one of us wants to change conferences, I'm okay with that for next year's purposes.

“They're a heck of a team, and they have a lot of returning players and they're going to be really good for a long time.”

With 4:24 left in the first half, the game was delayed for about 45 minutes because of lightning.

“We were really tight early and then it was so much better after the break,” Crawford said.

Both teams had their chances in the second half and overtime, but Ricker and Northwest freshman goalkeeper Peighton Orel kept the match scoreless.

Mill Valley finished 18-1-2. The Jaguars’ lone loss came to St. James in the season opener.

Mill Valley had six seniors – Ricker, Nash, Lloyd, Claire Burson, Emma Carbajo and Ella Grace.

“This is just awesome,” Crawford said. “For our kids, literally all season, this was the goal. This was the aim. This is what we wanted. And they put in the work and there's no words I can say for how proud I am of them.”

Northwest finished 16-4-1. The Ravens had a seven-player senior class – Maya Pal, Alexa Regas, Lydia Lemon, Isabella Flax, Aubrey Quigley, Lily Gomez and Emma Galvan.

“I'm so proud of this group of kids,” Graham said. “We battled injuries all year. We had dealt with a lot of adversity as a group, and I just feel like they did an amazing job. And it's a testament to the character of the kids and couldn't be more proud of them.”