Ozaukee shows how it can play

The Ozaukee High School boys’ soccer team played how first-year coach Josh Wood wanted it to toward the end of its game against St. Mary Catholic on Oct. 6, but it wasn’t enough to climb out of a sizeable hole.

The Warriors lost, 3-1, to the Zephyrs.

The Warriors were down a senior who was out of town, so “we moved some people around and it really seemed to work for us,” Wood said.

Sophomore Chase Miller, who filled in as a captain and led the Warriors’ midfielders, scored on a penalty kick in the second half.

Zephyr senior Connor Powers scored twice in the first half and once in the second.

“Efrain (Altamirano) stepped up into a sold midfielder role, helping put the ball back in play,” Wood said.

While the Warriors played a slow first half, they “came out swinging in the second half,” Wood said.

“The last 10 to 15 minutes of the game, an entirely energized team played with the intensity I’ve been looking for.”

Ozaukee, 1-5, was scheduled to play at Howards Grove (3-1-1) on Tuesday, at Kohler (2-2) Thursday, Oct. 15, and to host New Holstein/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah (2-3) on Friday. The Warriors play at Kohler on Thursday, Oct. 22, in the first round of the playoffs.

Cedar Grove-Belgium faces top competition

Cedar Grove-Belgium last Thursday lost at Oostburg, 8-0, after losing at St. Mary Catholic, 10-0, on Oct. 6.

Against St. Mary Catholic, coach Elias Garcia said, the team bus had issues when it was 30 minutes away. It ended up setting the Rockets back by more than an hour.

The Zephyrs, he said, were not willing to shorten the game despite the delay and abbreviated warmup.

“Despite the inconvenience and 0-10 result, the guys made the best of it by having fun and playing hard throughout,” Garcia said.

Zephyrs Luke Peters and Gavin Bergstrom each scored twice.

Garcia moved personnel around in the second half, which he said made the game more engaging for the players. He credited David Molina, Owen Williams and Jesse Burg for bringing strong energy.

Last Thursday, goalkeeper Alden Filtz “made some fine saves” against the Big East-leading Flying Dutchmen, Garcia said.

He praised the play of Gavin Schmidt, Roberto Martinez and Dominic Weber.

For Oostburg, Preston Ten Dolle scored four times.

“Oostburg displayed class and great sportsmanship, which we conveyed to their players and coaching staff. Pleasant exchanges between the teams did not go unnoticed,” Garcia said.

The Rockets’ Tuesday game against Random Lake was canceled since Random Lake has gone virtual and dropped sports for the time being due to an outbreak of the coronavirus. The Rockets are down two players due to contact tracing.

Cedar Grove-Belgium (0-8) plays at Sheboygan Christian/Lutheran on Thursday, Oct. 15, to close out the regular season and again on Thursday, Oct. 22, in the first round of the playoffs.