Bares leads four Ozaukee honors

Its record wasn’t perhaps indicative of its four all-conference selections, but Ozaukee High School boys’ soccer coach Josh Wood said his team played better than its one-victory total this season.

“I don’t believe the way we played this year that the record accurately depicted our team,” Wood said.

While the team, which finished 1-9, had issues scoring, “our play was a much higher caliber than what the record indicated,” he said.

Defensive midfielder Simon Bares headed the Warriors’ Big East selections, making the second team.

“He was one of our only two seniors. He was really influential, just a pace-driven midfielder for me. He was one of the key people to control the pace of the game and just really work in our favor,” Wood said.

As a first-year coach,  Wood was thankful for Bares’ experience.

“With having only two seniors and the majority of our team being freshmen, having someone to provide guidance was really critical,” Wood said.

Three Warriors received honorable mention recognition: Chase Miller, Efrain Altamirano and Mason Norwood.

Miller, at center midfielder, helped make the team go.

“He was an extremely competitive individual and really pushed his teammates to play their best,” Wood said.

“He actively made things happen and made plays happen, whether it was taking corner kicks or moving the ball around.”

Wood didn’t have statistics handy, but he said Miller and Altamirano led the team in scoring.

Altamirano, a midfielder, served as a passionate leader by example and with contagious enthusiasm.

“He was one of those guys that just really made the game fun to coach and to play with,” Wood said.

“It  wasn’t that he was goofing around — you could see the enjoyment when he played, and you could see that other guys enjoyed playing with him.”

While Altamirano focused on offense as an attacking midfielder, he had no problems flipping his mindset.

“He had a good read on the game and knew if there were holes to be filled, he would drop back,” Wood said.

“If we were getting beaten on defense, he would drop back to a defensive role. He really paid attention to the game.”

Norwood, a junior who played center back, grew throughout the season, Wood said.

“He never got riled up, never lost control of his position on the field. He did a good job of being a stalwart defender,” Wood said.

“He didn’t often get beat. He was always paying attention, was just a calming force on defense.”

The four Warriors honored were a special group, Wood said.

“I’m real proud of all of them and the hard work they put in this year,” he said.

“As a smaller team with not many subs, these guys played all the time. I don’t think any of these guys were subbed out the entire season.”

Those four and their teammates helped the Warriors accomplish something they hadn’t in two years prior: win a Big East game.

On Sept. 22, the Warriors topped rival Cedar Grove-Belgium, 7-2, at home.

Cedar Grove-Belgium, which went 0-10, had senior midfielder Calvin Lutzke earn honorable mention recognition.

“Calvin was our quiet team captain who led by example. He was always one of the first to training and the last to leave,” coach Elias Garza said.

“He was a versatile four-year starter who played a variety of positions. He was an athletic, cerebral, fundamentally sound player that put the work in both offensively and defensively.”

Lutzke had three goals and three assists.

“He’s a tremendous student-athlete, but Calvin the person is what impressed us most over the last four years. The program will surely miss this young, class individual,” Garza said.