Stars aligning for a familiar matchup for Grafton soccer

The regular season didn’t end on the scoreboard how the Grafton High School girls’ soccer team would have liked, but coach Jason Rogers said it closed in a fitting fashion.

All the Black Hawks’ seniors started and ended the game in a 1-1 home tie against Living Word Lutheran last Thursday.

“It was neat to start the game with all of them on the field and end the game with all of them on the field,” Rogers said.

The seniors include Sophie Schumaker, Ella Gentz, Sophia Verplancke, Alaina Jarmuz, Sophia Goetz, Caitlyn Gierach and Phoebe Simmons.

Of those, Goetz is one of the few who consistently plays and has been a spark plug for the offense.

“Others have been around all year continuing to show up to practice with great effort and great mentality,” Rogers said.

“They’ve come a long way. Freshman and sophomore year they’ve had one-win seasons. To turn around junior year to have eight wins and this year another five, they really set the program in a direction we want it to go, which is good. I always like talking to them about leaving a legacy that isn’t just necessarily wins and that nature, but how a program should act.”

Freshman Brooklyn Lamontagne scored the Hawks’ goal on a corner kick by junior Brayleigh Sumner.

The Hawks lost on May 27, 8-0, to adjacent rival Cedarburg.

“That was a rough one, to say the least. On paper and probably skill-wise, they’re just a little better than us. They just outworked us too,” Rogers said.

The Hawks finished 3-3-2 in the North Shore Conference, fifth of nine teams. They are 5-6-4 overall, got a 5 seed in the Division 3 tournament and host No. 12 Hmong American Peace Academy (1-8) on Thursday, June 5.

If the seeds hold, Grafton would play at No. 4 Kettle Moraine Lutheran (10-3-4) on Saturday, June 7. The Chargers are a common opponent for both the Black Hawks’ boys’ and girls’ teams.

The girls have played KML once each in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the latter two games in the playoffs. The boys have played once in 2024, twice in 2023 — the regular and postseason - and in the playoffs in 2022.

“Outside North Shore Conference, that’s the team I’ve played the most. Why should it be any different this year?” Rogers said, adding that the team has to earn that chance to play KML first.

 “We’ve gotta get through Thursday,” he said.

ν Port Washington didn’t have any games last week. The Pirates finished 1-6-1 in the NSC, second last of nine teams, and 5-7-2 overall.

Port got a 6 seed in the Division 2 playoffs and host No. 11 Martin Luther on Thursday, June 5.