Random Lake/Ozaukee repeats in rematch

It didn’t come down to penalty kicks this time, but Random Lake/Ozaukee’s second straight sectional final win over Oostburg still carried plenty of nail-biting drama on Saturday in Kohler.

RLO, behind two goals from the state’s leading scorer Mya Schroeder, clung to a 2-1 late lead as the Lady Dutch began to press.

With about 15 minutes left to play, Oostburg found itself with a ball right in front of RLO’s goal.

Oostburg’s leading scorer, freshman Whitney Allen, fired from close range with her right foot. Keeper Bianca Marini gave up her body but not a goal and stopped the shot.

“Just gotta be confident in yourself,” Marini said. “I actually don’t even know what goes through my brain. It just all happens at once.”

Coach Matt Wilson had an idea of what that save meant.

“I don’t want to say I knew, but at that point when she did that I thought, ‘We’re winning this game,’” he said.

Marini’s play fired up some of her teammates and gave others relief.

“When she got that I was very happy because I knew I got beat. I was glad she was there to save that. It’s very nice having her as a keeper,” defender Addison Kurlinski said.

RLO hung on for a 2-1 win and is making its second straight trip to state in its third year as a co-op.

“It’s exciting, especially since it’s my senior year. I’m excited to spend it with these girls,” Emily Luza said.

Senior Faith Wilson said, “It’s insane. We’ve worked our butts off all season. And now it’s time to do it again.”

RLO won at Oostburg, 2-1, on April 21. Schroeder and Wilson each scored.

“We know how they play and how they push us to play a certain way. We had to know that we had to take a step back and trust ourselves and trust each other,” Lexi Wilson, the team’s third-leading scorer with 10 goals and four assists, said. “There’s definitely a lot of tension between our schools. We knew that we’d have to just focus on ourselves and how we can play better.”

Kurlinski said, “We knew they were coming in with kind of a chip on their shoulder, but we came in with high confidence.”

Schroeder got RLO on the board in the 25th minute on a rebound.

Wilson fired a fastball that nailed the crossbar and fell to Schroeder.

“The need to follow shots is what I’ve been taught all my life. Obviously, it showed right there that I was able to finish,” Schroeder said. “I thought it was in but good thing I followed that in.”

The Lady Dutch tied the game six minutes later. Allen launched a rocket from the left side about 40 yards out that caught the breeze and sailed all the way into the upper right part of the net and over Marini, who leapt with everything she had.

“It’s skill but it’s hard to do. If you ask her (Allen) to do that 10 times, she makes maybe one,” Marini, who admitted she would prefer to be taller, said. “5-2 ain’t helping me right now.”

In the 47th minute, Schroeder got the ball at about the center of the goal with a defender on her and quickly turned and fired with her left foot. The shot sailed to the upper right to give RLO the lead. It was Schroeder’s 52nd goal of the season.

Schroeder is as dangerous from one side as she is from the other.

“I played soccer all my life, just keep practicing, trying to be the best I can. That’s just something as a striker I needed to be able to do,” she said.

“She’s a machine,” coach Wilson said. “It’s like she’s got eyes in the back of her head. That’s one of the things that makes Mya so special, the scanning. I preach this to all these girls. Whether you have the ball or not, you need to understand what’s around you so when you get it you can react faster.”

RLO won despite missing its second-leading scorer Lexi Gruman, a junior who has 12 goals and 13 assists. She was out of state at her sister’s wedding. Sophomore Marissa Ter Maat started in her place.

“It’s a big role to take on. I was grateful to be able to fill that spot and show all the work that I’ve put in over the years. And just kind of what it’s like to be a part of this team and be a part of this big win,” Ter Maat said.

“She’s got a big leg. She’s got speed. She’s got the size. She did a great job out there,” Wilson said.

RLO was already down all-conference players in defender Chloe Dybul, who blew out her knee early in the season, and Reese Prom, who barely played this year after tearing her ACL in May 2025. Warm temperatures — teams were given hydration breaks at the 20-minute marks of both halves — added to the challenge. Wilson gave his team tips on eating and drinking the day before.

“All these things are going to make a difference in a game like this,” he said.

For those who played in last year’s state title game when the heat index reached 105, Saturday’s conditions weren’t bad.

The wind may have been a bigger factor. RLO was against it in the first half and with it in the second.

“You could see all of our balls, even our shots, had more power. They were staying lower,” Wilson said.

On top of facing the wind for the first 40 minutes, RLO came out of the gates slower than Wilson would have liked.

“I shared with them what I thought of that at halftime, maybe not so nicely, but they stepped up and that’s all I can ask for,” he said.

“Oostburg played a hell of a game. They were faster to the ball than us, cutting off our passes. They played with a lot of effort and passion.”

Oostburg finished 12-6-3. RLO is 18-3-1.

How they got here

RLO’s soccer team came together in 2024 when Random Lake and Ozaukee high schools, just an 11-minute drive from one another, combined due to low participation. Between the two teams, they had one season above .500 since 2021 and usually finished at or near the bottom of the Big East Conference.

Wilson was an assistant the first year and became head coach the second. The transition from rivals to teammates has solidified, and the team acts as one.

“They’re a family. They play for each other. That’s how you bring out the best in them,” Wilson said.

Playing extra games together last season while making a surprising run all the way to the state championship game helped. This year, RLO wasn’t taking anybody by surprise, which makes qualifying for state all the more special.

“It’s definitely a really fun environment. This year we were expecting it, and now we’re there and we’re just ready to fire up and get in there on Friday,” sophomore defender Abby Depies said.

“It feels good especially with this team again. The team makes everything worth it,” senior Savannah Quade said.

Senior Mia Evraets said, “It’s nice to know that we have more games for the seniors.”

A season of rematches

In addition to the rematch with Oostburg in the sectional final, RLO will face a familiar foe in the state semifinal — defending champ Xavier (21-1), which beat RLO 2-0 in last year’s final,

Last year, RLO didn’t have Schroeder, who took the team’s offense to another level this season, and it won’t this year either. She and Kurlinski are playing in a club tournament out of state.

The game is at 11 a.m. Friday, June 19, at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee. The Prairie School (18-1-1) plays Aquinas (16-3) at 1:30 p.m. in the other semifinal. The title game is at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 20.