Grafton turns tables on Port in soccer

Knotted at 1 late in the second half, the Grafton and Port Washington high schools’ playoff soccer game came down to who would make a play in crunch time.

Grafton senior Bryce Jobe did it.

Jobe got out on a breakaway, beat the defense and shot the ball into the net with less than seven minutes to play. Cayden Sumner got the assist.

“Originally, I thought I messed it up, I’m not going to lie. But then I found a way to slot it in between the defenders,” Jobe said.

No. 3-seeded Grafton hung on for the 2-1 victory and a Division 2 regional title at No. 2-seeded Port.

The Pirates beat the Hawks, 6-3, in the regular season, but Grafton was missing a few players. At full strength, the Hawks were the aggressors early, firing shot after shot at Port’s Jack Schanen. The senior keeper kept the Pirates in the game with several saves, including one in which he dove to his left to deflect the ball away from the net.

Port also got lucky when the Hawks hit a post in a scoreless first half.

Pirate Porter Bostwick broke the ice in the 49th minute, taking a corner kick and bouncing it past Grafton keeper Charlie Rose.

Three minutes later, the Hawks answered when Noah Pegelow headed in a goal off a free kick from Evan Jobe.

“I think when we went down, 1-0, that a lot of us put our heads down. Just scoring that goal — seeing everyone’s heads lift up — it gave us a lot of confidence to move on,” Pegelow said.

After the Hawks took the lead, they tried to press the Pirates while kicking the ball to the corners to use the clock.

Grafton senior Tanner Marien said it was nice to get the Pirates back after beating them in the regular season but losing in the playoffs last year.

“Most of my friends play for Port, so it was fun to beat them finally,” he said.

Grafton coach Greg Springman said his team did a great job responding to Port taking the lead. He praised the defense of Kolton Micoliczyk, Noah Scott, Pegelow and Lukas Hensel.

Port coach Phil Nawrocki said he knew this would be a different Grafton team with its players back.

“I’ve got to hand it to Grafton. They fight. They came out to win this match. I think we did the same. They got the better of it,” he said.

Nawrocki credited the play of Nile Kuehl for handling outside right back for the entire match, Spencer Struckman, Porter Bostwick, Carson Roller and Evan Huber.

“The real soul of the team is Jack (Schanen),” he said. “You could hear him shouting from across the field trying to fire his team up.”

Grafton, 4-6-2 and winner of four in a row, plays at No. 1-seeded Kettle Moraine Lutheran on Thursday, Oct. 29.

Port finished 4-7 in its first year under Nawrocki.

“I couldn’t work with a better group of seniors. I asked these boys to make sure they had no regrets at the end of the this game and to make sure they left it out on the field. I think we might need to go carry some of these boys off. They’ve got nothing left,” he said.

Both teams won on Oct. 20 to get to the regional final.

Grafton beat No. 6-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran at home, 5-0, behind a hat trick from Marien and one goal each from Pegelow and Sumner. Carlos Herreman and Nathan Gentz each had an assist.

“We did a great job of coming right out and possessing the ball. We took control right away,” Springman said.

Port beat No. 7-seeded Sheboygan Falls, 5-0.

The game was scoreless at halftime but the Pirates could have changed their mailing address to the Falcons’ side of the field.

In the second half, Bostwick got the barrage started. Huber scored on a deflection, then Roller netted a goal. Sean Bongiorno scored his second goal on his second shot of the season, and Nolan Kopp got his first varsity goal.

“We just needed one goal to realize we’re Port,” Bostwick said.

“A lot of times in these games, it takes one and then there’s a waterfall,” Nawrocki said. “I’ve got to give Sheboygan Falls credit. They never stopped fighting.”

Bostwick and Dagan Daniels each had two assists.