Spooktacular Week for Vikes!

Entering Tuesday's Central Regional II matchup against the Salina South Cougars, the Seaman Viking boy's soccer team was eager to make a postseason push. Luckily for them it only took 10 minutes to start, after Josh Ellis found the back of the net with a bouncing ball in the box. Following his goal though, Seaman's play seemed stagnant and offensive opportunities became limited to conclude the half. 

"It was pretty frustrating because we knew we could have done better. We could have tried  a lot harder. We didn't possess good, I know that." said Ellis regarding Seaman's first half play.

However, after an emotional halftime speech from Coach Louis Di Leonardo, the Vikings came out to play in the second half.  Solid team defense spurred a breakaway for sophomore Erick Rivera to tack on another goal 14 minutes in. And for good measures, Zak Hutchinson redirected a Trenton Miller corner kick 10 minutes later to give Seaman the 3-0 victory and a birth in the regional championship game. 


Two nights later, the boys took Don Pierce Field once more for their Central Regional II championship game against league rival Shawnee Heights (6-10-1). In only their third game of the season Seaman defeated Heights 3-1, but with postseason implications on the line, this game was sure to be a barn-burner. Both teams brought it all in the first half, surging to find the lead and the momentum. Seaman was successful in doing so with only one minute remaining in the half. Senior defender Trent Johnson and sophomore Lucas Boyd combined passes on the left side before Boyd found Erick Rivera on the back post to give the Vikings a 1-nil lead going into intermission. Just before taking the pitch for the second half, a portion of the stadium lights went out causing a 20 minute delay. However, this hold up didn't derail either team's game plans nor focus. Seaman came out pressuring the T-Birds, trying to cause errors at both ends of the field. The Vikes always had numbers behind the ball and in front of the goal towing away any of Heights' efforts toward goal. The pressure finally mounted on the Thunderbirds after forward Zak Hutchinson put home a rebounded shot from freshman Clayton Smith. 


Seaman's second goal proved to be enough as they held on for the 2-0 victory and captured their first Regional Championship in four years. Following the game, the team posed for pictures with their hardware and celebrated the accomplishment. They have returned to practice before they travel to Blue Valley-Stillwell (12-6) on Tuesday for a sub-state/state quarterfinal match-up. 


Salina South Story

Shawnee Heights Story