Day: June 9, 2018

by Brian Salgado

Verona and Waunakee to Face Off in All-Madison State Championship Game

This was supposed to be the Year of the Lasers.

Kettle Moraine was getting plenty of press, traveling throughout the United States and Canada to play top-notch non-conference competition and returning to Wisconsin to rack up an undefeated in-state record.

But then the Lasers encountered Verona in the state semifinals. Now the state final game looks like a Madison-area block party as Verona faces Waunakee Saturday night at Schneider Stadium at Carroll University.

“No doubt, this is big for us as an area,” Verona coach Nathan Lutterman said. “Historically, Madison has been a stronger area than Milwaukee. But this year Milwaukee had the top-end teams while Madison year in and year out has a much deeper conference.”

Verona (12-6) is peaking at just the right time. Yes, the Wildcats already lost to Waunakee twice this year, but they have defeated the Middleton and Sauk Prairie in Madison Area-Red play. They also beat independent powerhouse Hudson, as well.

Lutterman chalks up the rough stretches to a a learning curve within his squad, which boasted the second-highest RPI in the state behind Kettle Moraine.

“I think for large stretches of the year we were learning to trust each other as a team,” Lutterman said. “We were just learning to trust our teammates, learn the system and not rely on just one or two people to play the game. And you see it when you look at our playoff results.”

Those results include holding Middleton, Appleton United and Kettle Moraine to just six goals apiece.

Waunakee will have to contend with senior attacker Ian Edwards, who is a two-time All-American who set the program record for points in a season this and is close to scoring 300 points for his high school career.

For Waunakee, this is the Warriors’ fourth appearance in the title game with coach Michael Reiter at the help. They have lost their last two title games, including one versus Verona that went into overtime.

Waunakee – making a consecutive tournament appearance after losing to Kettle Moraine last year – is guided by senior leadership. The Warriors boast about eight athletes with two seasons on the varsity squad.

Senior attacker Jarrett Wulf leads the offensive attack with with 42 goals for the season. Reiter calls senior middie Jeremy Werner one of the best two-way midfielders the state of Wisconsin has ever seen.

Senior middie Connor Smith also had 30 goals – many of them in clutch situations – on the season. On defense, a pair of brothers mind the opponent: senior defenseman Alan Olkowski and sophomore goalie Ray Olkowski.

by Brian Salgado

Gimme 5! ‘Retooled’ Arrowhead Red Wins Fifth Consecutive State Title

This was the year Arrowhead Red finally was supposed to be vulnerable.

The Warhawks graduated 19 seniors in 2017. They were forced to promote four freshmen to the Red roster. They weren’t expected to mesh so quickly.

But Tom Truttschel and his storied Arrowhead Red found a way to once again dominate the competition en route to an unprecedented fifth consecutive state championship, defeating University School of Milwaukee (USM) 6-4 Friday night at Schneider Stadium at Carroll University in Waukesha.

“We retooled bigger than we ever have had to, and to have all these young players come together with these older players and really gel into one team,” Truttschel said.

Arrowhead Red (19-3) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead by relying on a couple familiar faces for the program. Senior middie Abbey Lippold scored first at 19 minutes, 57 seconds in the first half, and junior middie Jacklyn Batley followed up with another goal just 23 seconds later. The pair joined forces at the 7:05 mark when Lippold scored off a Batley pass, as well.

“This season, we started a lot of our games kind of slow on the offensive end,” said Lippold, who will play lacrosse for Marquette University next spring. “For us tonight, it was really important to have that strong offensive start.”

USM (16-3) responded with two goals late in the half. Senior middie Grace Berrien scored twice within 19 seconds to cut Arrowhead’s lead to one with 1:07 to go before halftime.

But Arrowhead squashed any potential momentum when junior middie Coryn Tormala put away a pass from freshman attacker Sydney Schultz as time expired to regain the two-goal lead.

The Warhawks extended their lead to 5-2 at the 11:26 mark of the second half when junior attacker Madelyn Dingmann scored on a pass from sophomore middie Stephanie Curry. The squads held each other in check until USM’s senior attack Hailey Stephany and Berrien scored within 11 seconds of each other to cut Arrowhead Red’s lead to one once again with 1:52 left to play.

However, the Wildcats couldn’t put away the tying goal, and senior attacker McKenna Lorenz’s insurance goal with 17 seconds left in the game sealed the title for Arrowhead Red.

“I thought they went down a little early and fought back like I knew they would,” USM coach Samantha Adey said. “Offensively, we couldn’t quite find the rhythm until late in the second half, and inevitably we came up short.”

Twelve years and seven titles later, one might wonder what keeps Truttschel motivated season after season. He simply fell in love with the sport once his daughters took an interested, and even with all his success, he doesn’t see that dying out any time soon.

“The rewards of getting the most out of the girls — that’s what keeps me coming back,” Truttschel said. “As long as I’m loving it, I’ll keep coming back.”