With a dominant 2017 regular season, it looks like this could be the year the Wauwatosa boys lacrosse team finally would shake off its state title drought and officially join the elite programs in Wisconsin. After a resounding 17-12 victory over perennial powerhouse Hudson Sunday evening to advance to the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation semifinals, there’s no doubt the Blazers are on a mission to rewrite their reputation as an “also-ran.”

“It feels like this is the year for Tosa, so there’s a bit of pressure,” Tosa senior middie Jacob Cieszynski said. “But, we’re confident in what we can do, and it think we’re going to play to our potential.”

Wauwatosa (18-2) beat Hudson (13-6) via the faceoff, winning 29-of-33 matchups primarily with Cieszynski as the middie charged with grabbing possession after possession. The Blazers essentially played keep away with Hudson from there, building a 7-1 lead at 8 minutes, 34 seconds in the second quarter and never looking back.

“When Jake wins faceoffs, that helps us a ton,” Tosa senior attack Kevin Maxey said. “If we can get the possession on faceoffs 80 percent of the time, that really helps us keep the ball on our side of the field and kills their offense.”

Maxey led the Tosa offense with seven goals and three assists, and senior attack Casey Hagaman added four goals. Cieszynski scored three goals and chipped in two assists. Between the pipes, senior goalie Roman Myse saved nine shots for the Blazers.

Although Wauwatosa led by as many as nine goals in the third quarter, Hudson never threw in the towel. The Raiders managed to crawl back to within six goals with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter on sophomore middie Joe Murray’s second goal of the game, but that would be as close as the Raiders would get for the remainder of the game.

“We got down quick and we got down early, but we battled back, so I’m proud of my guys,” Hudson coach Jake Johnson said. “We got heart, but there was a lot of talent on their side of the ball.”

Hudson junior middie Conner Cole led the Raider offense with four goals. Senior attack Tanner Gornick contributed three goals, and sophomore attack Cole Danielson scored twice, as well.

Despite the bittersweet realization that Hudson’s senior captain triumvirate of Gornick, Nick Holter and Jake Gabrielson is moving on, Johnson is excited to see what the future holds for his Raiders. With 10 sophomores and six freshmen returning in 2018, this group has a lot of potential.

Wauwatosa, on the other hand, has earned a matchup with defending state champion Kettle Moraine on Wednesday night with a berth in the state title game on the line. Considering many of the Blazers’ seniors have been together since the eighth grade, Tosa coach Robin Buckley believes his squad has all the pieces in place to finally bring home the WLF hardware.

“The parents are behind the team and the coaches are behind the team, and we are trying to give them as many opportunities to be successful as possible,” Buckley said. “Hopefully, this will be their year.”

Considering the Franklin girls lacrosse program is only three years old, a regional playoff victory and a good showing against an established program like Waukesha would have been a great step for the fledgling Sabers.

But that wasn’t good enough for coach Jill Kyhn, who told her team that a state title in 2017 was well within their reach. They took one more step toward that goal Saturday evening as the Sabers took out Waukesha, 8-7, in overtime to advance to the state semifinals.

“We’re only three years into our program, and we have absolutely crushed it,” Kyhn said. “We know we’re not done. We’re looking for that state championship this year. We have the talent, we have the ability and we have the work ethic. It’s amazing how far we’ve come a long way.”

It certainly wasn’t easy for Franklin (12-5), which took a 4-2 lead after the first half. Waukesha (18-5) took control from there, scoring three unanswered goals – including two from senior middie Rina Niehoff to take a 5-4 lead.

The Sabers and Nighthawks traded goals the rest of the second half, with the lead changing hands three times before Waukesha took an 8-7 lead with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left in the game on a goal by senior attack Catherine Raster.

It looked like Waukesha would advance to the semis until Franklin forced a turnover with 37 seconds left in regulation. Junior middie Cassie Allard was awarded an 8-meter arc shot, which she converted with 3 seconds in regulation to send the game into overtime.

“Cassie is a baller,” Kyhn said. “We talked to her before the game and we said, ‘You’re going to get that goal,’ and she got that goal.”

In overtime, it was sophomore middie Bella Barnard’s turn to play hero. She sent the Sabers to the semis with a goal off the arc at 1:39 in overtime, setting off a celebration three years in the making while silencing critics who said Franklin still wasn’t ready for a strong state run.

“A lot of the programs are saying how surprised they are that we’re coming this far, and we’re actually giving teams a good challenge,” Barnard said. “We just wanted to take out one of the teams in the top four and get an upset.”

Franklin also relied on freshman goalie Maddie Webler, who made her first varsity start in the most pressure-packed situation possible. Webler responded with 15 saves, include a number of stops on 8-meter shots, that kept the Sabers in the hunt the entire game.

“She absolutely stepped in and stepped up,” Kyhn said.

With the loss of 12 seniors who represent 70 percent of the scoring output, Waukesha coach Bill Paquin admitted it will be difficult to replace the class of 2017 in the coming years.

“Many of our seniors in the top of the scoring in our program’s history,” he said. “It’s going to be a chore that we’re going to have as a coaching staff to replace that.”

Next up for Franklin is perennial power Arrowhead Red on Wednesday.

Other Girls Quarter FInal Saturday Scores

WNS 14
Mukwonago 6

Arrowhead Red 17
Waunakee 1

University School 18
Middleton 7