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The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
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Senior night success

Wildcats surpass the Vikings
Wyatt Carmichael, Staff reporter
May 9, 2025
Wyatt Carmichael
Junior Carter Chapp takes a shot on goal from beyond the box. The midfielder is a multiple sport athlete and plays midfield for the wildcats. “When I scored in the game, I was very excited and was happy to get on the scoreboard in the game,” Chapp said. “I like playing in the midfield because it gives me the opportunity to play on the defense and attack and also control the flow on the game with passes and through balls.”

The Wildcats took on the Vikings from Omaha North on Senior Night. Millard West honors their seven seniors for all of their hard work, effect and time they have put into the soccer program.

Right as the opening whistle sounded Millard West controlled the ball and the midfield very well by keeping constant pressure on the Vikings and forcing them to make bad passes. Not even five minutes into the game, senior Jayce Anderson had the ball at the top of the box and played the ball through assisting senior Carter Guthrie on a goal in the second minute.

“It felt great to get on the board early in the game,” Anderson said. “I saw that Carter was open in at the top of the box and I knew he had a good angle for a shot on goal. After I played him the ball and he shot it I knew the ball was going in.”

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to score again with Anderson scoring from inside the box. Just as the Wildcats went up 2-0, Junior Diego Zapata added another goal giving them a 3-0 lead. After an incredible run by the Wildcats, the Vikings finally begin to go on the attack and defend their side against the Wildcats.

The Vikings are able to build up from the back and force senior goalie Christian Pogue to command his defense to step to the ball and he makes an easy save. Pogue would play the ball up to Guthrie who notched another goal followed by sophomore Armani Dircio adding another.

“I trust a lot in the defense and midfield to step to the ball and not put me in a bad position to make a save,” Pogue said. “The saves I had to make were very easy and the defense did a very good job which made my job very easy.

The Wildcats carried momentum in the match and continued to force the Vikings to make errors in the game and allow three more goals before the halftime whistle blew from senior Roman DiDomenico and junior Carter Chapp. The halftime whistle would blow with the score sitting at 7-0 with the Wildcats having total control over the game. The second half began and within the first minute the Wildcats scored again with junior Derek Johnson getting on the score sheet. Followed by Zapata scoring his second goal of the game putting the Wildcats up 9-0.

“From my view on the sideline, we looked very solid and am very happy with the way we played,” senior team manager Will Dotson said. “I believe that we can make a deep run in the state tournament and use this game as momentum to finish the season strong and go into districts on a good streak.”

Senior Carson Hutteger would score the 10th goal of the game and sealthe match for the Wildcats. The final score was 10-0 in favor of Millard West. They hope to carry momentum into the end of the regular season and prepare for district play.  

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Zooming towards home, Junior Jake Daniel sprints home to score the teams first run of the game. “It felt great to finally get on the board after we were struggling to get runs in when bases were loaded,” Daniel Said. “We needed a spark to get the team going even though it was late in the game.”
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Leveling the playing field
Taking a swing, senior infielder Landon Horst puts a charge into a ball against Elkhorn South. The senior credits a large part of his hot hitting and production to playing summer baseball in Atlanta while also keeping a clear head in the box. “When I go up to hit, I try not to think at all,” Horst said. “I feel I am more successful when I have a clear head rather than trying to do something and having that take focus away from the actual pitch coming at me. I’m looking for pitches that I can handle, especially early in counts like anything belt high and middle in."
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About the Contributor
Wyatt Carmichael
Wyatt Carmichael, Staff Reporter
Wyatt is a senior here at Millard West High School. This is his third year in a Journalism class. He is a videographer and photographer for NebPreps and has been doing camera work outside of school for about two years now. He enjoys watching sports, playing sports with friends and fishing and hunting.