Schroeder rains goals on Living Word Lutheran

Whether thunderstorms would delay the playoff game between Living Word Lutheran and Random Lake/Ozaukee high schools’ soccer teams was in question last Thursday.

So was whether Mya Schroeder would stop scoring.

The sophomore netted six goals in RLO’s 6-0 Division 4 sectional semifinal victory.

“She’s just amazing. You can slow her down maybe, but you’re not stopping her. At some point she’s going to find her way through,” coach Matt Wilson said.

Schroeder said the team picks it up a notch when she gets in a scoring groove.

“It keeps building our confidence and we just play off of that,” she said.

With storms looming, RLO sought a fast start since the rules dictate that games are complete after one half.

Schroeder broke through less than six minutes into the game on an assist from Faith Wilson. Twelve minutes later, Schroeder scored on a penalty kick.

RLO led, 2-0, at halftime.

Light rain came down for part of the first half, making the ball slick, but it let up for the rest of the game.

Schroeder did not.

The Timberwolves packed the box, but that didn’t slow her down.

Four minutes into the second half, Schroeder scored on a cross from Lexi Gruman.

“We definitely like to build on each other, and that’s what we work on a lot at practice,” Gruman said. “We’re the two on top, so when we get those fast breaks it’s kind of just between us two. We try to do our best with creating space. It feels amazing when you can finish too.”

Four minutes after that, Wilson sent a through ball to Schroeder, who bounced it off the left post for another score.

Eight minutes later, Schroeder scored on a breakaway, firing from the left side to the upper right corner.

With 24 minutes to play, she scored from close range on an assist from Lexi Wilson. The shot bounced up and hit the crossbar before going into the net.

Keeper Bianca Marini kept the clean sheet by stopping a penalty shot late in the game. The rebound came back to the Timberwolves, and Marini saved the next shot too.

“You’ve gotta get back up, you can’t worry about the save at that point,” she said of stopping the penalty shot. “You’ve gotta worry about the next one.”

“We’ve been working on that every practice,” coach Wilson said of penalty kicks.

The game was a rematch of RLO’s 4-1 win on May 26 over the Timberwolves. Schroeder scored all four goals.