RLO honors seniors with win in season finale

Senior night showed some resilience in the Random Lake/Ozaukee high school co-op soccer team last Thursday.

RLO went down a goal less than 15 minutes into the game when Port Washington’s Charlotte O’Brien scored from close range on an assist from Mia Blum. But RLO came back with three goals while holding the Pirates scoreless the rest of the way for a 3-1 win in the regular season finale.

Leading scorer Mya Schroeder evened the game later in the first half on an assist from Lexi Gruman.

Schroeder gave her team the lead on an assist from last year’s leading scorer Mia Evraets. Port keeper Kamryn Knaub got her hands on the ball but it still reached the net.

With three minutes left, Evraets scored on a breakaway on an assist from Alyssa Urness.

Both teams had scoring chances in a game where possession was pretty even, but RLO made the most of its opportunities.

After the game, it also celebrated its seniors and unity between the two schools.

“It’s two separate schools but it feels like we’re one and together. As a senior, it was good to bring up the upperclassmen and really give them experience. Be welcoming and make them feel like we’re all together,” Alyssa Urness said.

The team seems only split during the school day. Once players suit up for soccer, they’re one.

“It’s brought not only two communities together but it brought me a lot of close friends,” senior Savannah Quade said.

“Honestly, this shows me how teamwork is important because the two schools being not combined, it was really challenging at first. But once we combined as a team, everyone works well together,” Evraets said.

Even two injured seniors feel the love. Chloe Dybul was lost early in the season to a knee injury.

“It’s means more than I can even say. I’ve learned so much and I’ve met all these amazing girls. The two schools coming together has been the greatest blessing of all,” she said.

Reese Prom is trying to come back from a knee injury from last season.

“The girls really bring us together. It means a lot,” she said.

Coach Matt Wilson made an observation about this senior class.

“This is actually the last group of seniors that know what it was like to be rivals and play for just either Random Lake or Ozaukee,” he said.

“Some of these Random Lake seniors I’ve been watching on a soccer field since they were 6 or 7. The Ozaukee seniors I have only been around for the past three years, but they have made such an impact on me and the team since this co-op started.”

The game ended with all the healthy seniors on the field, one of Wilson’s goals.

“This is going to be a hard class to let go,” he said.

RLO’s seniors are Urness, Kalena Kurylowicz-Mills, Prom, Addison Brody, Quade, Evraets, Emily Luza, Dubul and Faith Wilson.

RLO on May 26 beat Living Word Lutheran, 4-1, at home. Schroeder had all four goals. Faith Wilson had two assists and Gruman had one.

“Mya just knows what angles to take and when, then her skill and speed take over,” coach Wilson said.

The two teams could see each other in a Division 4 sectional semifinal. RLO is a 2 seed and Living Word Lutheran is a 3.

“This was perfect timing for this game,”  Wilson said.

RLO finished the regular season 14-3-1 and won the Big East with a 7-0-1 mark.

For Port, playing a team like RLO was a good postseason prep.

“This was nice to see before playoffs. We’ve got to go harder next time,” senior Libby Holmes said.

“Keeping an open mind, taking some positives away from it, I think we had decent passes tonight. We had a lot of chances, couldn’t quite finish on them,” Blum said. “It was good to face this level of talent going into the playoffs. I’m sure we’ll see teams very similar in skill level. Just good practice. Get a little bit better.”

Schroeder was a known threat.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game coming into this. They’ve got a really good forward up top and we knew that. We had someone marking her,” senior Madi Uselding said. “Obviously, it didn’t  end the way we wanted to, but I think we did a good job keeping on her. We just let a couple slide and that happens sometimes.”

Port beat Sheboygan South, 6-0, at home on May 26. The RLO contest was also Port’s last regular season game.

“We have a week off. I think that’s good for our recovery,” Uselding said.

RLO hosts No. 15 Hustisford/Dodgeland at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 4. If they win, they host the regional final on Saturday, June 6.

Port got a 6 seed in the Division 3 tournament and hosts No. 11 Kewaskum at 4 p.m. Thursday in a rematch of a scoreless game a couple of weeks ago. If Port wins, it likely plays at No. 3 Shorewood on Saturday.