This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Catholic Memorial.

The back-to-back-to-back Division 2 Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation champion had reached its breaking point after losing 13 seniors in 2016. Countless people suggested that Catholic Memorial coach Mike Hoffman take his team out of the Classic 8 – Red Conference and into a smaller, less competitive league.

But the Crusaders wanted none of that. Instead, they stayed with the big boys in 2017 and adopted a small-ball style of play to compensate for losing a handful of prolific scorers to graduation.

And after defeating DeForest, 7-5, Wednesday night, Catholic Memorial is heading back to the state championship game for the opportunity to win its fourth consecutive title.

“No one expected us to even have a winning record,” Hoffman said. “That motivated these kids because no one gave us a chance.”

Catholic Memorial (13-5) and DeForest (9-8) took a 4-4 tie into halftime. The Norskies finally took a 5-4 lead with about 2 minutes to play in the third quarter. In the fourth, however, the Crusaders brought the defensive chaos they’ve become known for in 2017, scoring four fourth-quarter goals on unsettled plays. Junior middie Colin Stein sealed the victory when his top-shelf score gave Catholic Memorial a 6-5 lead.

On defense, Hoffman credited his long poles – junior Zach Davis, senior Cliff Watson and junior Vinny Haight – for keeping the DeForest offense at bay. The Crusaders managed to squash a 3-minute man-down situation where they limited the Norskies to just two shots.

“Once we got out of that, I knew we were in good shape,” Hoffman said. “We try to hold the opponents to under five or six goals, and we’ll score seven or eight. We’re not going to outscore anybody.”

The victory earned Catholic Memorial a match with Sauk Prairie, who defeated Stoughton to advance to the championship game. The squads met April 1 in Prairie du Sac, where the Crusaders lost 9-7.

The D2 title game will take place at Carroll University’s Schneider Stadium in Waukesha at 4 p.m.

The girls lacrosse scene this week revolves around whether Arrowhead can pull off an unimaginable four-peat this weekend by winning their fourth consecutive Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation state championship.

But upstart Whitefish Bay/Nicolet/Shorewood (WNS) has a long memory. And after taking the mighty Warhawks to the brink in the final game of the 2016 season, the Wolfpack earned a rematch with Arrowhead when it defeated University School of Milwaukee (USM), 8-4, in a semifinal game Wednesday night. It’s the second time in WSN’s three-year existence the Wolfpack has made it to the title game.

WNS (17-0) put the pressure on USM (16-4) right from the start, scoring just 24 seconds into the game and dropping another goal within the next 3 minutes of the first half. The Wolfpack added a third unanswered goal before the Wildcats got on the board. WNS took a 4-1 lead into halftime and never looked back.

“We got off to a really good start when we looked downfield and found an open cutter off the crease and was able to put it in the back of the net,” WNS coach Meredith Donaldson said.

Senior middie Izzi Mandli led the Wolfpack with three goals and an assist. Freshman middie Lauren Flemma added two goals and two assists for WNS , junior attack Landry Elliot scored two goals and an assist, as well.

WNS had to keep the USM offense at bay without the services of one of the Wolfpack’s top defenders. Sophomore Lauren Lex sat out the semifinal game after getting banged up in the quarterfinal match with Mukwonago. However, sophomore Abbe Hansen stepped in admirably for Lex, and Donaldson said WNS didn’t miss a step as a result.

“It’s [Hansen’s] first year on varsity, and she came in and did an absolutely phenomenal job,” Donaldson said. “She did everything expected of her and more to get us a nice win.”

WNS will meet Arrowhead in the state title game at Carroll University’s Schneider Stadium in Waukesha Friday at 7 p.m. When the teams met May 23, the Wolfpack won, 12-8.

The Arrowhead Red girls lacrosse team collectively held up four fingers in their team picture, representing the program’s fourth consecutive trip to the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation’s state championship game. However, that doesn’t mean all the current Warhawks – even the enviable senior class that runs 19 deep – have experienced any or all of those title runs.

And if anyone is wondering where the motivation for Arrowhead stems from after so many dominant seasons under coach Tom Truttschel, there it is – getting everyone a chance to raise the trophy.

“We have less than half of this group that went to state last year, so they’re motivated for the teammates who haven’t been there yet,” Truttschel said after Arrowhead’s convincing 15-2 victory over Franklin. “Also, they want that two-peat or three-peat for themselves, so the fire is there.”

Arrowhead (16-6) made early work of Franklin (10-6) by starting the game with an 8-0 run before the Sabers could get on the board. Senior attack Lexy Chatham scored two of her game-high four goals to close out the first half, sending the Warhawks into intermission with a 10-1 lead.

“My teammates found me in the circle, and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have those goals,” Chatham said. “We’ve been working really hard on our offense lately.”

Truttschel said Chatham has been the key to Arrowhead’s offense this year, knowing just the right buttons to push to make the Warhawks go in any situation.

“Lexy is our quarterback on offense,” he said. “She really calms our team down on offense when she needs to. She’s got a smart lax I.Q. – she knows when to look for her teammates and when to slow it down to take a one-on-one. She’s grown a lot in these last two years, and she’s one of our leaders on offense.”

Senior attack Emily Dvorak added three goals for the Warhawks, as well. Senior attack Sophie Elrod and sophomore middie Jacklyn Batley scored two goals apiece for Arrowhead.

When Franklin managed to break through to the Arrowhead side of the field, senior goalie Amanda Catalano made some incredible saves.

“She had an amazing game tonight with a lot of saves,” Truttschel said. “We had thought about switching to into a man defense, but we stayed with our solid zone defense. We thought maybe we’d isolate a few of their top players, but we saw no reason to do that as long as we play our top game.”

As the Sabers’ impressive postseason run ended, so did the high-school careers of senior captains Jackie Krueger, Dani Lindsay and Jess Lucht, who scored one of Franklin’s two goals on the night. Franklin coach Jill Kyhn realizes her seniors won’t be easily replaced, but the future is bright for young team with a high ceiling.

“[The seniors] literally were the first girls in line when we said we were holding a lacrosse clinic, so they are just great leaders,” Kyhn said. “We’ve got a really good core group of returning players, some of which improved drastically this year.”

Arrowhead will face Whitefish Bay/Nicolet/Shorewood at Carroll University’s Schneider Stadium Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Wolfpack defeated University of School Milwaukee, 8-4, to advance to the state finals.

The two behemoths of division-2 boys lacrosse finally will have a chance to meet in the state title game after years of shutting out the rest of the field.

On Wednesday night, Sauk Prairie defeated MadLax Conference – White rival Stoughton, 9-4 to advance to the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation Division 2 state championship game. For their efforts, the Eagles will face three-time defending champion Catholic Memorial.

It is the first time the two teams have met in the title game, but Sauk Prairie is certainly familiar with this stage. Before Catholic Memorial went on its amazing run, the Eagles had appeared in back-to-back-back title games, taking the crown in 2011 over University School of Milwaukee.

“The players know the history, and they played against Catholic Memorial [in a 9-7 loss in April], but we’ve improved a lot since then,” Sauk Prairie coach Bennett West said.

In fact, the Eagles (15-3) went undefeated in conference play and notched victories over tough D1 opponents like Middleton and Waunakee.

On Wednesday night, however, Sauk Prairie had to get through the Vikings before making plans to travel to Waukesha. The Eagles were led by freshman attackman Willy Hanson, who scored five goals and dished an assist. Senior goalie Justin Johnson also saved 13-of-17 shots for Sauk Prairie.

Crediting a staunch Stoughton (14-7) defense, the Eagles were down 3-2 at halftime due in part to a variety of turnovers and an inability to get the ball into Vikings’ territory. However, Sauk Prairie improved in the second half by clearing better, getting through the attack to work from behind and practiced better patience while in possession of the ball, and the Eagles overtook the Vikings in the third quarter and poured in four goals in the fourth to seal the victory.

Sauk Prairie and Catholic Memorial will meet at 4 p.m. Saturday at Schneider Stadium on Carroll University’s campus in Waukesha.

There’s no hiding from the spotlight for this year’s edition of the Kettle Moraine boys lacrosse team.

During the Lasers’ 2016 championship run, Kettle Moraine was still considered an underdog as the team that made its first Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation title game appearance. In 2017, not only are the Lasers entering the final game of the lacrosse season as the defending champions and remain undefeated in Wisconsin, they’re favored to repeat after easily disposing of Wauwatosa in the semifinals with a 17-9 victory Wednesday night.

“Last year, I felt a lot less pressure because we hadn’t been there before and we were kind of the underdog,” said Lasers senior goalie Sam Shaver, who saved 10 shots and kept the Blazers well below their scoring average of 14 goals per game. “This year, I’m feeling more pressure because we can repeat, but the feeling is just the same.”

Kettle Moraine (19-3) took a 1-0 lead before Wauwatosa (18-2) tied the score early in the first. However, the Lasers took over the game from there, rattling off six unanswered goals to end the first quarter and scoring twice more to start the second to take a 9-1 lead.

“We started off hot and we rode that the rest of the game,” Kettle Moraine coach Michael Stefan said. “We were hot offensively because of our ride. They weren’t successful in getting the ball to their offensive end. When we were riding, our attackmen generated more opportunities and more possessions for us.”

Wauwatosa made a small run toward the end of the first half to cut Kettle Moraine’s lead to 11-5 as the Blazers scored three unanswered goals heading into the 4-minute, 10-second mark. However, senior middie Jordan Schmid responded with his fourth goal of the half to squash the comeback.

“They’re definitely a good team that goes on runs,” said sophomore attackman Chris Bender, who finished the game with six points (four goals, two assists). “We just had to get our team together defensively as a unit and stop their offense.”

Senior attackman Nick Psicihulis also scored six points for the Lasers. Sophomore middie Malloy Murphy added three goals for Kettle Moraine, as well.

Wauwatosa’s loss ended the prolific careers of some of the most talented players in Wisconsin, including senior attackman Kevin Maxey, who scored five goals for the Blazers. Senior attackmen Cameron Rosario and middie Jacob Cieszynski scored two goals apiece for Wauwatosa, as well.

In the state title game Saturday evening at Carroll University’s Schneider Field in Waukesha, Kettle Moraine will attempt to repeat as WLF state champions against Waunakee. The teams met in April when the host Lasers defeated the Warriors, 6-5.

It took a balanced attack of an incredibly athletic Arrowhead squad for the Waunakee boys lacrosse team to earn its first trip back to the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation state championship game. That’s exactly what Warriors coach Mike Reiter coaxed from his team as they defeated the Warhawks 12-6 to punch their ticket to Schneider Stadium at Carroll University Saturday night.

This is Waunakee’s first trip to the title game since 2014, when the Warriors lost to Verona, 7-6, in overtime. Waunakee won its last state championship in 2009 with a 7-5 victory over Arrowhead.

Waunakee (16-5) had five players who scored two goals apiece to lead the offensive charge: senior middie Brigham Borseth, junior Conner Smith, senior attack Brayden Johnson, junior Kam Olsen and sophomore attackman Jarrett Wulf. Junior Philip Lowney dished two of Waunakee’s six assists in the game.

On defense, Reiter said he encouraged the Warriors to keep the Warhawks on the outside of the perimeter, which they accomplished. Senior goalie Jeremy Krysinski saved 11-of-17 shots for the Warriors, as well.

“We didn’t cause a lot of turnovers, but we played good body-to-body man defense,” he said. “We also had some good off-ball movement for our goals.”

Waunakee will face defending-champion Kettle Moraine at Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The two teams met in April with Kettle Moraine walking away with a 6-5 victory.