Ozaukee, CG-Belgium soccer teams hope for better

It hasn’t been a banner start on the scoreboard for the Ozaukee and Cedar Grove-Belgium high schools’ boys’ soccer teams, but the effort hasn’t been lacking.

Ozaukee lost, 2-0, at Sheboygan Falls on Sept. 7, and, 3-0, at Catholic Memorial last Thursday.

Against Falls, the Warriors played well but couldn’t find the back of the net.

“We controlled the ball very well, and possessed the ball a majority of the time,” coach Josh Wood said.

The Warriors had 30 attempts with 21 shots on goal.

“Seventy percent shots on goal is huge.  We are getting the looks and just need them to start getting to the back of the net,” Wood said.

“Adyn Recyghl and Efrain Altamirano worked very well together in the first half moving the ball around.  It was really great to see how these players have grown over the last year, and how well they work together.”

Goalkeeper Jon Brown “played fantastic” with 18 saves, Wood said.

Last Thursday, A.J. Groppel had three goals for St. Mary Catholic.

“Ozaukee had a lot of great attempts but the goals were just out of reach.  Passing was fantastic, but with no subs, its hard to maintain momentum,” Wood said.

But Wood tried a new defensive formation that he said may work better in the future.

“Owen Klaus was able to play up a little more which gives us a little more offensive push when needed,” Wood said.

Ozaukee, 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big East Conference, hosts Sheboygan Christian/Lutheran on Thursday, plays at Dodgeland on Saturday and at Cedar Grove-Belgium at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21.

CG-Belgium seeking first victory

Cedar Grove-Belgium lost at home to highly talented Oostburg last Thursday, 10-0, and lost at Living Word Lutheran on Monday, 8-1.

“They played very good soccer. They have a lot of good kids on that team,” coach Kyle Schultz said of Oostburg.

The Rockets had a couple of chances to score, but the Flying Dutchmen thwarted both of them.

At Living Word, Caleb Heinen scored about 15 minutes into the game that made the score 2-1.

“Logan (Navis) took it to the touch line and Caleb headed it home,” Schultz said, also praising captain Parker Knight for his communication.

Living Word answered with three quick goals, and it was 5-1 at halftime.

But, Schultz said, this was the best soccer he has seen from his team this season.

The Rockets, 0-3, play at Howards Grove (0-3) on Thursday before hosting Ozaukee on Tuesday.