Day: May 24, 2018

by Brian Salgado

Mukwonago Makes its Case for the State Tournament with Convincing Victory Over Wauwatosa

The Mukwonago boys lacrosse team did all it could Thursday night to make one final push for a berth in the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation State Championship Tournament. Even before the Indians’ 12-6 victory over host Wauwatosa, they ranked 19th in the Laxpower RPI standings — the top 20 teams are selected for the Championship Tournament.

Now they await their fate until the postseason brackets are released at noon Friday.

“I think it’s definitely going to help us out,” Mukwonago coach Travis Young said. “We lost a few [five] in a row, including a couple tough ones. But this is going to help us going into the playoffs, whether we’re in the invitational or gunning for the championship.”

Mukwonago (7-8, 2-6 Classic 8 Red) kept the Blazers at bay the entire game due in large part to senior attacker Hunter Kadrich’s white-hot start. He scored two of his four goals in the first three minutes of the game as the Indians jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first quarter. Wauwatosa (4-10, 0-6) wouldn’t come within four goals the rest of the game.

“I just kept my feet moving, and when I saw an opening dodge, I took it,” said Kadrich, who set a school record for points in a season in the game.

“He’s always been the quarterback for our team,” Young added. “He’s really led our attack and offense for our whole season. It’s going to be different without him next year.”

Wauwatosa held Kadrich scoreless after his fourth goal at the 8 minute, 1 second mark in the second quarter, but senior attacker Cole Warren picked up the slack. He scored three of his four goals in the second half to maintain Mukwonago’s offensive momentum.

“It’s kind of hard to stop his shot once he gets his hands free,” Young said. “He has a powerful shot and it’s pretty well-placed. He’s always a guy that I can rely on to put it into the back of the goal.”

For Wauwatosa, sophomore middie Elijah Graesser had two goals and an assist for the game.

All teams will find out their playoff slots Friday at noon when the brackets are released. In the new postseason format, the top 20 teams will play for the state title. Teams who do not qualify for the championship tournament will be invited to play in the Wisconsin Invitational. These teams also will be able to opt out of the invitational.

Each week WisconsinLacrosse.com will highlight a select game from around the State of Wisconsin. Made possible by a donation from Amplify Lacrosse.

by Brian Salgado

Franklin Seniors, Kyhn Go Out with a Victory

Jill Kyhn has always had a plan in place for her Franklin girls lacrosse team since launching the program four years ago.

She wanted to put the Sabers in position to win a state title, which tonight’s 9-4 victory over Whitefish Bay/Nicolet/Shorewood definitely accomplished.

She also wanted to develop a strong youth feeder program for the high school squad, and the pipeline of talent flowing into the Sabers varsity team has proven successful.

Kyhn also had an exit strategy in place, knowing the program would flourish under the watchful eye of a former player ready join the coaching ranks. This final part of the plan was revealed after Franklin’s win over the Wolfpack when Kyhn acknowledged she would step down at the end of the season. Current assistant coach Julianna Schearer will take over as head coach for the 2019 season.

“This is my last senior night, so it was a bittersweet night,” Kyhn said. “You get to the point where they need that former player’s insight. When we brought Jules on this year, that was the next step.

“I also have a daughter who is going to be a senior that hasn’t seen me for the last five springs,” Kyhn added.

It wasn’t exactly clear from the start that Franklin (12-4, 11-2 Classic 8 Conference) would send the program’s founder and the class of 2018 off with a win. A defensive struggle ensued for nearly the entire first half, but senior middie Cassie Allard broke the drought with a goal with 5 minutes, 46 seconds left before intermission.

She would score again with 2:25 to play in the first half. That goal started 5-0 run for the Sabers that would give them the lead for good. Allard finished a game-high three goals.

“I thought we really executed on both offense and defense, and we really played as a team,” Allard said. “That’s what made us come out on top.”

Although they typically rely on a man-to-man defensive scheme, the Sabers switched to a zone-backer defense to disrupt WNS (12-3, 10-2). The strategy worked as Franklin held the Wolfpack to their lowest scoring output of the season. (WNS also scored four goals in a non-conference loss earlier this season.)

“It was pretty compact in there, and we got a lot of sticks on passes,” Kyhn said. “When we got those knockdowns, we got the ground balls, as well.”

Senior middie Allie Marion closed out her Franklin career with two goals. Sophomore middie Lauren Flemma scored two of the Wolfpack’s four goals.

This game concluded the regular season for Franklin and WNS. They await their seedings for the state tournament, which will be announced Friday. The tournament begins next week.

Each week WisconsinLacrosse.com will highlight a select game from around the State of Wisconsin. Made possible by a donation from Home Instead Senior Care