By Nathan Max
WSL Executive Editor

Senior attackman Logan Smith registered a game-high 10 points on seven goals and three assists to lead Olathe to a 20-2 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas in the Lacrosse Association of Kansas state championship game Saturday afternoon at Blue Valley West.

Senior attackman Trevor Ecton, last year’s WSL Kansas Player of the Year, added five goals to help the Hawks win their second straight state title and extend their winning streak against Kansas competition to 23 games. Olathe (11-3) beat St. Thomas Aquinas for the third time this season.

“It was the closest thing to a complete game that we’ve played,” Olathe head coach Joel Henning said. “I’m very proud of them, especially the seniors. This was a good one to go out on.”

Olathe hasn’t lost a game against an in-state opponent in two years, a streak that dates back to a defeat in the 2008 Kansas state championship game. But the program hasn’t always been so dominant.

When the current group of seniors were freshmen, in 2007, Olathe went 2-11. And that was an improvement off a winless 2006 season.

“Our seniors have seen both sides of the ball, and that’s what made them work as hard as they did,” Henning said. “We have guys who have really embraced lacrosse culture. They’ve really gotten into it and made it their own.”

On Saturday, it was two standout seniors -- Smith and Ecton -- who led the way. But Olathe got plenty of contributions from its underclassmen as well, the kids who have only known Olathe as a winning program.

Freshman attackman Hayden Frazier scored four goals, junior middie Max Ash had a pair and junior middies Parker Woodson and Brett Wilson each scored once to round out the offense for Olathe, which scored the game’s final 19 goals.

Defensively, senior goalie Cody Leach saved eight shots.

St. Thomas Aquinas, which upset Shawnee Mission East in overtime to make the championship game, finished the season 5-5.

The Saints started strong and actually led 2-1 just 75 seconds into the game. But it was all Olathe from there.

Ash scored with 9:01 remaining in the first quarter to spark a game-ending 19-goal run. Smith’s second of the game with 6:20 to play in the first quarter gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead and stood up as the game-winning goal.

Smith, who had six goals and two assists in the first half, made it 12-2 when he scored an unassisted goal with 1:39 to play in the second quarter. Olathe led 17-2 at the end of the third quarter before cruising to the finish in the final 12 minutes.

“It took us a little while to settle down,” Henning said. “But once we did that and got the championship jitters out, we just started running our stuff.”