One final salute

One of the most anticipated Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ soccer seasons in recent memory didn’t happen this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Rockets at least got a chance to say a proper farewell.

The team faced an alumni squad last Friday in what amounted to senior night.

The current Rockets, which won their first Big East title with a 13-0 record last season, won, 8-3, with goals coming from some of the usual suspects.

Abby Kraus, last year’s Big East Offensive Player of the Year who set the single-season school record for goals and was primed to break the all-time mark, scored twice.

Alexis Bahr scored twice, and Genesis Ciske, Amy TenHaken, Madison Bohachek and Shelby Cooney, last year’s Big East Defensive Player of the Year, each tallied one goal.

For the alumni, Brittany Teunissen, a key piece in the Rockets’ 2018 state runner-up team, scored twice and A.J. Caldwell scored once.

Two days earlier, the inaugural Sheboygan County Highway D Construction Cup was held. Players from the current Rockets made up the Lake Church Luxembourgers who faced the Dacada Dolls, primarily made up of Random Lake

High School players. The game was set up to give the girls a chance to compete during the pandemic.

Lake Church won, 3-0. Kraus scored twice and Cooney once. Emilie Beaudry, Kraus and Cooney each had an assist.

Brooke Braga and Kaydence Callahan split goalkeepers duties in the shutout.

First-year coach Zac Garza, taking over after assisting his father Elias, said the Rockets picked up where they left off. He watched Wednesday’s game since it was a club format and coached in Friday’s game.

“The soccer that was played those two nights was really phenomenal. I can’t really think of anybody who even played an average game. They were all fantastic,” Zac Garza said.

The games aside, just getting together to play was vital, especially for the seniors, he said.

“The big thing for me at those two games and why I was overjoyed in seeing those come together was that senior group,” Garza said.

Tributes to seniors were given during the alumni game, and speeches at the quarter marks, during halftime and after the game were moving.

“It was emotional but it was nice,” Garza said.

“I think just being able to come together like that and play, knowing they missed out on their season, provided the sense of closure they were looking for. You could almost feel the sense of relief and closure.”