History in the making for Cedar Grove-Belgium soccer team

Another first is coming up for the Cedar Grove-Belgium girls’ soccer team.

After qualifying for state for the first time in the program’s history, the Rockets dominated their Division 4 semifinal opponent Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld and won, 1-0. They will play for their first state title at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against Kenosha St. Joseph at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee.

The Rockets scored 97 seconds into the game on a gorgeous shot by Amy TenHaken.

Haven Minick lofted a high corner kick to TenHaken, who was barely outside the box. She kicked it right out of the air and found the top right of the back of the net. The Vanguards’ goalie didn’t have a chance.

“It was completely unreal. I wasn’t even expecting it to go in,” TenHaken said. “It was completely crazy. I was kind of in shock the first few seconds and then I celebrated after.”

Minick was surprised as well.

“Honestly, I did not expect it at all. When Amy took it in, I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy,” she said.

For coach Elias Garza, the goal was colossal.

“It was just huge. If there was any anxiety that the girls were feeling and with the coaching staff alike, I think that helped bring things down a little bit and settle everyone’s nerves if there were any,” he said.”

“Knowing when you’re playing a defensive-minded team, any goal is going to be critical.”

Senior co-captain Jessica Rose was pumped.

“It was super exciting. It made us all go even harder than we were before because we had the energy and the momentum,” she said.

Despite the lead, senior co-captain Brittany Teunissen said the Rockets knew they had to maintain pressure.

“I think that really just got us up and helped us keep the intensity up and that we knew that we had it and we had to play smart the rest of the game,” she said.

The Rockets stayed on the attack much of the first half, and picked it up a notch in the second, creating several scoring opportunities and keeping the ball on the Vanguards’ side of the field for almost the entire time. Goalkeeper Brooke Braga barely touched the ball for the entire game.

The Rockets outshot the Vanguards, 16-2. Braga made two saves and Vanguard goalkeeper Destinee Schmidt made 14.

“We knew that they were going to go hard because we were up 1-0, so we had to go harder,” sophomore Abby Kraus said.

Even when the Vanguards crossed midfield, the Rockets’ defense sent the ball back quickly.

“The midfielders played a tremendous game between Kelsey (Lukens) and Amy TenHaken with the chemistry they’ve developed. They were huge. Those were the two players that really stood out for us today,” Garza said.

The game was delayed by 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm. The Rockets had to adjust to the wet turf. Cloudy and cool to start, by the end of the game the sun had come out and the Rockets hung on for a chance to play in the state title game.