Season Preview: 4-1A Boys Soccer

Nate Huppe has built a tremendous legacy as part of the Bishop Miege boys soccer program. He won two state titles as a player, two more as an assistant coach and picked up his fifth straight Class 4-1A state title as head coach with the Stags win last fall.
What more could the seventh-year head coach hope to accomplish? Eying the record for consecutive boys soccer state titles — St. Thomas Aquinas won eight — would seem like a logical guess.
But Huppe is not looking toward future state titles. He’s not even focused on this year’s state title, at least not yet.
“Our goal is to do well in the (Eastern Kansas) League and see if we can possibly win it,” Huppe said.
It’s already a rare feat to win five straight state titles, but even more stunning to do so without winning a single league championship in that stretch. But the EKL has been such a dominant league.
Not only has Bishop Miege locked down Class 4-1A for the last half decade, it’s won nine state titles in the last 23 years without winning a league title in that time frame. The Stags got close in 2016 and 2017, earning EKL runner-up finishes both seasons.
“We just had a couple slip ups,” Huppe said. “That’s the thing, you cannot have one off night or you get beat because the league is so good.”
Miege earned its last league title during the team’s first state championship in 1998. Huppe was playing for the Stags back then when his father, Joe Huppe, coached the program. The Stags won a second state title before Nate graduated and he picked up two more state titles in 2012 and 2013 as an assistant for his dad.
Except for the first year after the father-son duo swapped coaching roles, Huppe has won a state title in all of his other five seasons at the helm.
Still, he wants the league crown.
“Honestly, it would mean everything to me (to win the EKL),” Huppe said. “I think any coach in the league knows that winning an EKL title, probably in boys and girls soccer, is harder to win than winning the state championship.”
It will be a tall task, but this could be the best chance for the Stags to do it. Huppe said his team returns a lot of talent despite needing to replace five outgoing seniors and three other departures from last year’s team.
The Stags will be led by four senior captains who have played varsity each year of their high school careers.
One of those players, Ramon Rodriguez, will look to complete a full career of earning Class 4-1A All-State first team honors. Rodriguez won the Defender of the Year award each of the last two seasons.
Victor Lopez gives Miege another multiple-time all-state competitor on the offensive side of the pitch. Lopez won the Forward of the Year award. He also enters this season tied for sixth on the Stags’ all-time goal scorers list.
Lopez will help pressure opposing defenses with Mauricio Salas returning after an all-state first-team year as a midfielder. Senior defender William Anderson rounds out the experienced group of captains.
The team also has senior Matt Mohler holding down goalkeeper duties and senior Tony Velez provides experience as the backup at midfielder.
Most of the departures will be filled with younger players stepping up, although some already have. Victor’s little brother Austen Lopez made all-state second team as freshman last year.
The Stags hope to get similar results with Ramon’s younger brother Paul Rodriguez, who is likely to start at outside midfielder. He will have some competition with fellow freshman Grant Bealmear for the spot.
Miege will also have sophomore forward Cooper Green and sophomore centerback Julius Lopez starting.
Huppe said his team will need to avoid injuries this year as the core is intact, but the pieces around the edges are not as clearly developed as in years past.
“I don’t know if we’re as deep as some of our other teams,” Huppe said. “We’ve got talented players, they’re just really young on the bench.”
The underclassmen will need to start growing up fast, as the Stags kickoff the year with a steady slate of top teams in the state and beyond.
“It’s a brutal schedule, but we always play that,” Huppe said. “We’re not too concerned about our W-L record come playoff time.”
Miege finished last season with eight straight wins after starting out 2-5-3. Huppe said those early season battles have been a major reason for the state title streak. He said facing teams of its caliber or better forces his team to step outside of its comfort zone.
“You’ve got to make adjustments,” Huppe said. “You might throw your leading goal scorer back because you need them to help defend against an incredible offense, or maybe you have to play a five in the back system instead of a normal four.”
With Miege’s success in packing the nonconference schedule with challenging matchups, on top of the seven-game buzzsaw in the EKL, Huppe often wonders why other 4-1A schools don’t try to add more top teams to their slate of games.
“They may have two to four really tough games during the season,” Huppe said. “We may have 12 to 14 depending on how it works out.”
Miege will start with a tough opening slate of games, facing Blue Valley, Blue Valley North, Blue Valley West and St. James Academy in the first two weeks, as well as hosting St. Michael the Archangel Catholic from Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
Huppe said the team will try its best to focus on one game at a time, even as the Stags continue down a historic path.
Two of the teams looking to stop Miege’s 4-1A streak are teams the Stags knocked out in the final two games to close out another state title in 2020: Trinity Academy and Louisburg.
Trinity Academy will return four all-state selections from their state runner-up finish. Senior goalkeeper Alex Kirsten-Westgard returns as the Goalkeeper of the Year and will make it incredibly difficult for teams to score on the Knights.
Seniors Landon and Colin Green will push the action on offense while senior defender Ethan Cary will help Kirsten-Westgard take care of things on the other end.
Louisburg will return Missouri-Kansas City commit and all-state midfielder Braden Yows. The Wildcats will also return all-state selections with senior defender Michael Seuferling, junior forward Cade Gassman and junior goalkeeper Mack Newell.