Rematch is set for rivals

Neither team is thrilled with the match-up, but fans won’t be traveling far to see Port Washington and Grafton in the Division 3 soccer playoffs.

Grafton, 3-5-1 in the North Shore Conference, earned a No. 8 seed and hosts No. 9-seeded Port Washington (2-6-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24.

“It’s a real bummer for both teams. I thought both of us could make a nice little run. We’re battle-tested in the North Shore with three of top 10 teams in the state,” Port coach Sean O’Brien said.

A rematch with any team isn’t what Grafton coach Don Arnold hoped for either.

“We didn’t want to face them this early,” he said.

Grafton beat Port, 2-1, on Sept. 26.

Neither team is coming into the rematch hot.

Port tied Hartford, 1-1, on Oct. 15. After an own goal in the second half, Abdallah Khaled tied the game by tapping the ball over the keeper on a ball that Carson Roller slotted through, O’Brien said.

It was senior night for Port, and O’Brien called his 13 a “good group of young men.”

Last Thursday, Port beat Carmen South, 2-1. O’Brien said they could make a run in the Division 4 playoffs.

Khaled scored Port’s first goal, and Porter Bostwick got the game-winner with a header over the keeper on a great pass from Thomas Garant, O’Brien said.

Grafton lost twice last week heading into the playoffs.

On Oct. 15, the Black Hawks lost, 5-1, at West Bend West. Max Stilb and Tailon Langerman were missing due to injury and Arnold just hoped to keep the rest of his team healthy.

The Black Hawks were down, 1-0, at halftime, before the Spartans blew up in the second half.

Victor Geiser scored on a penalty kick.

The Hawks lost, 2-0, at Kettle Moraine Lutheran last Friday.

The Chargers scored in the eighth minute and in the 88th minute.

“In the second half as a whole they settled in and played some good soccer, put a lot of pressure on them,” Arnold said. “They kept fighting to the end, which was a positive.”