Warriors pull together for a soccer title

Already having a much better season than last year, the Ozaukee High School girls’ soccer team took another step forward last Saturday.

The Warriors won all three of their matches to take top honors at the Crusader Classic in Waupun. After defeating Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran, 5-0, and Central Wisconsin Christian, 4-1, they edged Clinton, 2-1, to secure the title.

“I am very proud of all our girls playing three games and displaying all the fundamentals that coach Ivan (Garcia) has been teaching them at practice,” assistant coach Joe Lopera said.

By the title game, the Warriors’ confidence was soaring and they “kept to their game plan — ball control and sending the ball to the outside and crossing it to the weak side,” Lopera said.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Ozaukee made some adjustments. Track star Ashlee Mueller was brought on to slow Clinton’s top offensive player, and the offense got going.

Abby Miller scored on an assist from Ashlee Mueller, and captain Samantha Kroeger scored on a free kick from 30 yards out, “sending a beautiful chip that went over the goalkeeper’s hands,” Lopera said.

Backup goalie Marta Arroqui stepped in when Ozaukee’s starter Alyssa Laabs had to leave for a family function after the second game. Arroqui made nine saves.

Against Central Wisconsin Christian, the Warriors fell behind early before rallying.

Ozaukee began to attack from the left, where Mueller beat the defense and sent passes to forwards. Miller and Charlie Schoell each scored a goal in the first half.

“Our girls kept their composure and played their game with clean passes and touches,” Lopera said.

At the break, the Warriors took it upon themselves to lead each other, he added.

“At halftime, I witnessed how strong these girls are when two of our captains (Kroeger and Miller) spoke to the players about how the CWC defense was playing up by the halfway line and asked them to chip the ball over them, because they felt very confident of beating them after 18 shots on goal,” Lopera said.

Miller and Schoell each scored again in the second half.

Lopera said Laabs have several awesome stops among her five saves, and the Warriors’ defense held their opponent to six shots on goal.

Against Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran, Grace Tinder and Tammy Landing each scored once. The offense, Lopera said, took a little while to get clicking in the 9 a.m. game.

Kroeger, Mikayla Penkwitz and Schoell each added a goal in the second half.

Some varsity starters weren’t available due to the rescheduled tournament. However, “our defense captain Loren Miller stepped up to the plate, showing leadership and mentoring our young defense,” Lopera said.

The Warriors allowed only five shots. Laabs made three saves.

On May 3, the Warriors knocked off Roncalli, 10-0.

Isabelle Clark scored twice, and eight other players each netted one goal: Kroeger, Tinder, Miller, Mueller, Penkwitz, Caleigh Ebersold, Tammy Landing and Sonnet Bayer.

Miller had three assists, and Kroeger had one.

On May 1, Sheboygan Falls blanked Ozaukee, 3-0.

Last week left the at Warriors at 6-2-1 overall, including 3-2-1 in the Big East Conference. This week, they were scheduled to play at Cedar Grove-Belgium (3-0-1 Big East) on Tuesday and host Howards Grove (3-0-1) on Thursday.

Rockets win big over Sheboygan Lutheran

The Cedar Grove-Belgium girls’ soccer team took a big lead early and cruised to a 6-0 victory against Sheboygan Lutheran last Saturday.

Behind goals from Brittany Teunissen, Abby Krause, Haven Lanser and Jessica Rose, the Rockets built a 4-0 halftime lead. Lanser, Minick and TenHaken each had an assist.

Rose and Kristin Oszcuscik each scored in the second half. TenHaken and Ellie Felsinger had assists.

The Rockets finished with 34 shots on goal. Goalie Brooke Braga made one save.

“Good soccer for us. Movement, spacing and connecting were all positive,” Cedar Grove-Belgium coach Elias Garza said.

“The efficiency in finishing quality opportunities needs to improve, but I’m pleased with how the girls performed. We were able to get a lot of girls playing time, which helps considering the number of games that will be played over the next few weeks because of weather and field conditions.”

Due to inclement weather, the Rockets’ game at New Holstein on May 3 was postponed until May 19.

This week, the Rockets (3-0-1 in the Big East and overall) were scheduled to host Ozaukee on Tuesday and play at Kiel on Wednesday and at Random Lake (1-2-3) on Thursday.