Author: Brian Salgado

by Brian Salgado

Kettle Moraine Takes Another Step Toward Defending State Title

Kettle Moraine boys lacrosse coach Michael Stephan admitted he kept several offensive plays in his back pocket for a good chunk of the Lasers’ state quarterfinals game against visiting Middleton. Once Stephan let his team off the leash, however, the Lasers showed why they have been the top-ranked squad in Wisconsin throughout the 2017 season.

The Lasers and the Cardinals played to a 6-6 tie entering the fourth quarter, but Kettle Moraine outscored Middleton 5-2 the rest of the way to earn the 11-8 victory and a ticket to the state semifinals.

“We were savings a few looks for later in the game just to see how they would counter,” Stephan said. “We didn’t want to throw the whole repertoire out there right away. We were feeling them out to see what they were trying to do and what they would give us.”

What Middleton (10-11) showed Kettle Moraine (19-3) was uncompromised resiliency. The Cardinals led 3-2 early in the second quarter before the Lasers went on a 3-0 run to close out the first half. Senior middie Jordan Schmid scored two of his game-high four during the stretch.

“Jordan is the leader of this team – it doesn’t matter how many goals he has,” Stephan said. “We’ve had many games where he might not score at all, but he did today because we needed him to. But his role is to carry us in whatever way we need him to, and today we needed him to score.”

Middleton managed to tie the game at six when senior attack Lane Wahlgren scored his second goal of the game for the Cardinals with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

However, the five-goal barrage in the fourth quarter gave the Lasers their berth in the state semifinals. Sophomore attack Chris Bender scored two goals during the run off assists from Schmid to seal the victory for Kettle Moraine.

“At the start of the game, we were really trying to force things early in our offense,” Schmid said. “This year, we talk a lot about just practicing the system and what we run, so in the second quarter we just started to settle into what we’re used to and started to play our game.”

Despite the Middleton loss, senior goalie Tyler Dohmeier had a standout game between the pipes. He managed to make numerous acrobatic saves while Kettle Moraine applied nonstop pressure at times throughout the game.

“Tyler was just standing on his head over and over, especially in the first half,” interim coach Karl Wahlgren said. “He had five possessions down there where he was making saves and we were turning the ball over between the 30s, and they kept coming back down.”

Although Wahlgren took over as head coach during the 2017 season, he is seeing off many seniors he has accompanied since they were in fifth grade. He admits their competition oftentimes was better, Wahlgren said no team played with more heart than the class-of-2017 Cardinals.

“We always haven’t been technically the best team, but we have always had more heart on the field until the last second goes off the clock,” Wahlgren said.

In other Boys Quarter Final Games Saturday

Waunakee 14
Marquette 8

Verona 9
Arrowhead 10

Boys D2

Catholic Memorial 12
Oneida 9

Deforest 8
Oregon 7

Sauk Prairie 17

University School 5

Stoughton 15
Notre Dame – Green Bay 9

 

by Brian Salgado

Neenah Boys Lacrosse Team Soars to Conference Title with Undefeated Bay Valley Season

With a conference title on the line and a one-goal deficit to rival Appleton United, Neenah boys lacrosse coach Paul Zielski called a second-quarter timeout with a message specifically for the eight seniors on his roster:

This is your game.

The elder Rockets immediately responded. Senior Ike Miller scored four goals in a five-goal run to put Neenah ahead for good in a 14-12 victory that completed the Rockets’ undefeated Bay Valley Conference season.

“We put it on our seniors’ shoulders, and those guys stepped up,” Zielski said. “We came together as a team and played really strongly.”

Neenah (15-4-1, 9-0 Bay Valley Conference) and Appleton traded goals throughout the first quarter until Appleton (11-5, 7-2) took a 4-3 lead off sophomore Nate Htwe’s two second-quarter goals. That’s when Zielski called the timeout that would change the course of the game.

“We called a timeout, brought everyone together to cool everyone off, and Coach just said, ‘Put it on your backs, seniors,’” Miller said. “And we practiced that ever since right off the dodge.”

Miller responded with four unanswered goals over a six-minute span. He would finish the game with five goals.

“He’s a complete player,” Zielski said. “He’s a kid you want to have with the ball in his hands in the last 30 seconds if you need a goal because he can work, and he’s not a selfish player. He deserves an all-state nomination.”

Senior middie Reid Molitor scored one of his team-high six goals to cap off the five-goal run that gave the Rockets a 7-4 lead with 55 seconds left in the half.

Appleton cut Neenah’s lead to one with 4 minutes, 1 second left to play when junior attack Liam Janson scored his sixth goal of the game to bring the score the 13-12. United’s offense would threaten multiple times in the final moments of the game, but Neenah’s senior goalie Matt Lange – the 2016 Bay Valley Conference player of the year – made countless saves to keep the Rockets in the lead.

“In the last 30 seconds, he had three beautiful saves and kept us from letting this game get any closer,” Zielski said. “He put a lot on his shoulders, too.”

Despite not winning the conference crown, Appleton coach Eric Marsh was far from disappointed in his team’s effort considering the experience gap between the two squads. While Neenah’s roster is loaded with seniors, 11 of United’s 19 players are underclassmen, so a two-goal loss for the conference title is a huge morale boost.

“This was an experience game for us,” Marsh said. “We’re super young. For us to go in and battle like this against a team with great seniors, I’ll take the two-goal loss.”

Neenah will host Wausau in the regional semifinal round of the state tournament Tuesday evening. Appleton hosts Janesville on Tuesday evening, as well.

This season WisconsinLacrosse.com highlighted select games from around the State of Wisconsin. Made possible by a donation from Amplify Lacrosse.   

by Brian Salgado

Waunakee Holds Off Verona for First MadLax Title Since 2014

The Verona boy’s lacrosse team has been the class of the Madison Area Lacrosse (MadLax) Conference and among the best in the state for years, with rival Waunakee looking up at the Wildcats as a program to emulate.

However, 2017 became the year of the Warriors Tuesday night as Waunakee won the MadLax Conference title with a hard-fought 8-7 victory at Badger Ridge Middle School in Verona.
“I think our kids have taken their lumps against Verona for the last few years,” Waunakee coach Mike Reiter said. “Verona is always such a good program with great athletes, and they play with such tremendous pride and passion. I really admire that about their program, and I think our kids have matched that today.”

Waunakee (11-5, 9-1 MadLax) was in control most of the game with staunch defense and taking advantage of numerous Verona (15-3, 8-2) penalties. Three the Warriors’ eight goals were scored in man-up situations.

“Like most teams, we spend a fair amount of time on our specialty stuff,” Reiter said. “From our perspective, it’s just about playing good, solid defense and figuring out that instead of trying to do trail checks and things that are going to cause turnovers, we should just play good body defense.”

The Warriors took a 7-4 lead with 9 minutes, 47 seconds left to play when senior attack Brayden Johnson scored his third goal of the game off an assist from senior middie Bryk Austin Duren. The Wildcats responded with three unanswered goals in next 2:15 to tie the game with 6:37 left in the game. Verona senior middie Patrick Stigsell led the charge with a goal and an assist in that stretch. Junior attack Ian Edwards scored his second goal of the game to make it a 7-6 score, and junior attack Graham Sticha tied it with his second goal of the game.

“When you have kids that play with passion like Verona does, they’re not going to give up,” Reiter said. “I give a lot of credit to them because they wanted to get back into the game and they made a couple nice plays and dodges and finished.”

Waunakee withstood the onslaught and managed to take the lead for good when sophomore middie Nick Robson scored the game-winning goal at the 6:14 mark in the fourth quarter. The Warrior defense and senior goalie Jeremy Krysinski took over from there, squashing Verona’s remaining scoring opportunities and killing a Wildcats’ man-up situation at the 6-minute mark to claim the conference crown.

“We had this game circled for a while now,” Robson said. “It just boosted our confidence even more going into the playoffs because it’s a big win for everyone. Everyone was juiced about it.”
Krysinski finished the game with seven saves for Waunaukee, and junior Kam Olsen added two goals for the Warriors.

Verona coach Nate Lutterman admitted his team made far too many mental mistakes against a strong Waunakee team, but he remains hopeful heading into the state playoffs as the No. 1 team in the state.

“We should be optimistic because Waunakee is a very good team,” Lutterman said. “Those are the types of matchups we need to embrace. The difference between this year and last year for us is we’ve had a little bit more of it and we’re hoping that’s a good thing going into the playoffs.”

 

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

LAXtravaganza Celebrates Milwaukee’s Youth Players, History of Lacrosse

Jim Calder has attended lacrosse events of every kind across North America throughout his four-decade career, so he knows when a community has truly embraced the sport. As he arrived at University School of Milwaukee’s campus for LAXtravaganza on Saturday morning, he quickly realized the Milwaukee market was pumped for the occasion.

“There’s a buzz,” said Calder, a longtime ambassador of the sport based in Canada who came to the Milwaukee Area Youth Lacrosse Association’s (MAYLA) annual event to deliver a presentation on the history of the sport.

“You know when things are dead, and you know when there’s a buzz, and there’s a buzz here. You can see people are excited.”

That excitement has translated to ongoing growth for lacrosse at just about every level of competition throughout Wisconsin, and the youth divisions are no exception.

According to Mary DiGiacomo, secretary of MAYLA and the director of LAXtravaganza, the 2017 edition grew to 90 teams playing across seven fields over two days. In 2016, the “festival” attracted 72 teams.

MAYLA uses the term “festival” to differentiate its event from tournaments that are run throughout the area. DiGiacomo said the association launched LAXtravganza in 2012 as an annual affair (it was canceled in 2013 due inclement weather delaying the start of the youth season) to celebrate youth lacrosse, so teams may keep score, but there is no final champion declared at the end of Day 2.

“We started this as a way to give back to what MAYLA provides the members of the league,” DiGiacomo said.

With hundreds of boys and girls participating in 171 games over two days, DiGiacomo estimated that between 2,800 and 3,300 spectators would attend LAXtravaganza 2017 – if the weather cooperated. Considering the dreary conditions most of the weekend, that expectation might not have been met.

However, the excitement was still palpable, especially because someone with Calder’s pedigree in lacrosse was in attendance. These days, Calder travels throughout this continent reminding athletes and parents alike about the historical significance lacrosse has in the cultural fabric of North America.

The Creator’s Game – as the First Nations of Canada call lacrosse – was first played by these tribes long before it evolved into its current format, and Calder is on a mission to make its participants aware of their role in the game.

“I think it’s important because it gives you respect for the game from the beginning because you understand you’re just a little tiny part of a thing that’s been going on 10,000 years,” said Calder, who has penned two books about lacrosse and is presently planning the 150th anniversary celebration of the game’s organization as a modern sport. “It’s important to understand that you’re playing a game unlike any other in the world – it’s a spiritual game.”

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

by Brian Salgado

There Are Plenty of Ways to Launch a New Lacrosse Program

As Scott Breier found out quickly, if you build a lacrosse program, the athletes will come. Breier, one of the parent organizers for the Sussex Hamilton Lacrosse Club, is in the middle of a grassroots effort to create a program for his son and his fellow Chargers, who were left without a squad when Brookfield became a school-sponsored sport.

Today, Sussex Hamilton might be starting out small, but things are looking up. The Chargers have more boys than Breier and his fellow organizers expected and the program expects to double in size for 2018, and launching a girls’ program is not out of the question.

“If you have a few motivated, experienced players, they will market the program to their friends – and word-of-mouth is the best advertising,” Breier said. “It seems like a lot of work to create a club from scratch, but many area clubs have been great in helping us along in this process, including Brookfield and Lake Country/Arrowhead.”

There are many programs throughout Wisconsin that have sprouted up as lacrosse gains popularity throughout the Dairy State. The one constant, however, is that there are many ways to get a program off the ground.

Success in Sussex

As Brookfield’s lacrosse players moved toward a school-sponsor team, the other school districts involved in the co-op had to figure out where their student-athletes would play in 2017. Three parents – Tracy Dow, Patrick Jauquet and Breier – stepped up to launch the Sussex Hamilton Lacrosse Club this year, which is fielding a junior varsity team for boys from the Sussex Hamilton, Pewaukee and Menomonee Falls school districts.

According to Breier, the club has 18 boys on its roster, which is more than expected. For 2018, the Chargers hope to double the size of their roster and add a girls’ program.

“Our goal for the first year of the program was to get enough boys to field a team,” Breier said. “We certainly met that goal and are looking to market lacrosse in our school districts to more boys and girls. Our hope is that all of our current players stick with the sport into next season and that we recruit more players for 2018.”

School Sponsored from the Start

While many programs start as co-ops between multiple high schools to make sure there are enough players to field a team, Oak Creek formed its own squad right away. Oak Creek coach David Swenson said the numbers were there from the start – after numerous surveys and daily announcements at the high school, the Knights had 50 students interested in playing lacrosse. Athletic Director Scott Holler gave Swenson the go-ahead, and a program was born in 2016.
Although Oak Creek had a youth program, Swenson – who played lacrosse at Stoughton High School – said the most important thing for his fledgling program was for the inexperienced players to learn the ins and outs of the sport.

“After our first scrimmage, one of the officials noted that my team looked like they were playing football, but with lacrosse sticks,” Swenson said. “At the end of the season, the same official said that we looked like we were actually playing lacrosse.”

The Knights struggled as a junior varsity team taking on the established programs in the Classic 8 Conference, yet they still won a regular season game and two more in the JV conference tournament.

For 2017, Swenson hopes to earn the program’s first regular-season win on the varsity level and score a goal in every game. He has been impressed with how many of the Knights have learned how to play the sport in just a year’s time, especially sophomore Brendan Weber, who is converting to goalie this season.

“I am very surprised at how fast some of the catching on to the sport and how well they are doing,” Swenson said. “[Weber] is doing amazing making the switch from a left-side middie last year on JV to a starting varsity goaltender.”

At Home in Homestead

The Homestead boys’ lacrosse program may only have two years under its belt, but considering it spun off from the mighty Ozaukee Lacrosse Club (OZLAX), it’s no surprise that the Highlanders were quite competitive on the field. They finished with a 13-6 record and had five players earn All-Classic 8 Conference honors. Also, senior goalie Anthony Kennin was named Wisconsin Player of the Year.

Behind the scenes, however, the campaign to start a school-affiliated program for Homestead was at least three years in the making. According to coach Mike LaValle, student-athletes from the Mequon-Thiensville School District already made up a large percentage of the OZLAX roster, which was a major selling point for the school board. For 2016, the boys’ and girls’ programs combined for over 120 athletes across the varsity and junior varsity levels.

“Starting a new program at any school must have the supporting cast of players to achieve this goal, as well as being able to offer the sport to both genders,” LaValle said. “Having the numbers for both boys’ and girls’ teams was one of the main reasons that Homestead was able to start their lacrosse programs in 2016.”

Student participation wasn’t going to be a problem, so Homestead had to go about setting up the infrastructure to support its program. Speaking specifically about his boys’ team, LaValle tracked down experienced coaches by reaching out to Michael Fahey, the head coach of Concordia University’s men’s lacrosse team.
“They have been a major factor in our success, and their knowledge and experience has proven to be great assets to the lacrosse program,” LaValle said.

LaValle and his staff also had to design and buy uniforms as well as purchase equipment like balls, goals and nets. The program held several fundraisers within the community to help cover costs associated with operating the program.

On the field, the Highlanders had to “create a brand” of lacrosse that would prove to be as successful as Homestead’s other athletic programs.

“The only negative that we experienced was falling short of our goal of a state championship,” LaValle said. “New program or not, we set our goals high and we strive to reach each goal we set – unfortunately, we lost in the second round of the playoffs. All in all, our first season was a complete success when said and done, and the players set the foundation for future teams.”

by Brian Salgado

Brookfield Holds Off Furious Comeback by Franklin for 11-10 Overtime Victory

The Brookfield boys lacrosse team had its way with Franklin for about 44 of the 48 minutes of regulation Tuesday night at Brookfield East High School, dominating the Sabers physically and scoring at will throughout the game.

But the most memorable moments came in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter as Franklin managed to overcome a five-goal deficit to force overtime. Brookfield senior attacker Jordan Hoehnen brought the game to a close with a goal in overtime for an Bluejays 11-10 victory in one of the best games of the 2017 Wisconsin boys lacrosse season.

“We have battled for consistency throughout the year, so with us putting together a real solid fourth quarter – you don’t like to come out of this game with a loss – but it is definitely character building to come back from five goals down and force overtime,” said J.C. Stahl, Franklin’s interim head coach who was filling in for Dave Diehl for the night. “It is something we can build on for the playoffs.”

It looked like smooth sailing for Brookfield (6-4) from opening faceoff onward for the Bluejays. They took a 5-0 lead over Franklin (6-4) with 5 minutes, 35 seconds left to play in the second quarter, led by two goals from senior middie Nicky Steigerwaldt.

“I thought it was our best start to a game all season,” Brookfield coach Vincent Witt said. “They came out and we had five right away. Offensively we were just being patient. Our crease guys were moving quite nicely. And then we weren’t forcing it or turning it over.”

The Sabers fought back to within 2 by scoring three unanswered goals in less than a minute heading into halftime, including two goals from junior middie Mitchell Hansing within 28 seconds of each other.

In the second half, Brookfield turned up the physical play and the defensive pressure, putting plenty of Sabers on the ground en route to building a 10-5 lead with 8:55 left in the game. With 4 minutes to play in the fourth, however, the Sabers began cutting into that margin, starting with back-to-back goals from sophomore attacker Mitchell Kaye and sophomore middie Connor Lindsay in a 15-second span. Kaye added his third goal of the quarter – and the minute – with 3:18 left to play to cut Brookfield’s lead to 10-8.

At the 2:09 mark, Hansing chipped in his third goal of the night to bring Franklin within one.

After two Brookfield penalties, sophomore Matthew Moen sent the game to overtime with a man-up goal for the Sabers with three seconds left in regulation.

“The biggest thing for us was starting to put the ball on the cage,” Stahl said. “I think we had a ton of shots throughout the game that just weren’t hitting the marks. We started putting the ball on the cage and they started going in the net.”

One reason the Bluejays kept the Sabers at bay for so long was the play of junior goalie Jonah Hestetune. He saved 10 shots, including four in the second quarter and two in the critical sudden victory period.

“He played out of his mind, to be quite honest,” Witt said. “That was his best game of the season. I don’t know what he had for breakfast this morning, but he should do it all over again.”

With the overtime victory, Witt hopes the Bluejays can reverse a troubling trend from earlier this year that saw Brookfield giving away leads in games that turned into losses. Continuing to fight after Franklin came back from five goals down is a step in the right direction.

“It says a lot to their character and determination to sticking to what they know they can do in order to succeed,” Witt said. “At the beginning of the year, we had leads and we blew them. Hopefully, we can continue to play this way, but time will tell.”

Steigerwaldt and Hoehnen finished the game with three goals apiece for the Bluejays. Senior middie Aaron Keech and sophomore attacker Aidan Packham added two goals each for Brookfield, as well.

Brookfield travels to Wauwatosa for its next game on Monday. Franklin visits University School of Milwaukee on Monday, as well.

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

Arrowhead Red Girls Get All They Can Handle from USM in 7-5 Victory

University School of Milwaukee (USM) may be the second-best girls lacrosse team in Wisconsin this week, but No. 3 Arrowhead Red is still the reigning back-to-back-to-back state champion with a roster that is 19 seniors strong.
That pedigree and experience showed itself Tuesday night when the Warhawks visited USM’s Liz Krieg Field and walked away with a hard-fought 7-5 victory to remain undefeated in Classic 8 play.

“Tonight, our girls just battled and battled and battled,” Arrowhead Red coach Tom Truttschel said. “In the end, they made some critical plays in the second half to get ahead.”

USM (10-2, 5-2 Classic 8 Conference) took a 3-2 lead into halftime when senior middie Kyle Hession scored her second goal of the game with just 37 seconds left in the half. Junior middie Grace Berrien chipped in the first of her two goals in the first half, as well.

The Warhawks took over in the second half, however. Senior attackers Lexy Chatham and Emily Dvorak each scored two goals in the second half as the Arrowhead defense clamped down on USM, allowing just two goals the rest of the way.

“In the first half, we were a little sloppy with the ball, and that’s not our M.O.,” Truttschel said. “We’re usually much cleaner in transition and we had fundamental errors. We just need to clean up the fundamental side to make it a more comfortable victory.”

Senior goalie Amanda Catalano finished the game with 20 saves, a total that included a furious barrage toward the end of play as the Wildcats urgently tried to send the game into sudden victory.

“They really started ripping them, but my girls rip them on me, so I’m used to it,” Catalano said. “The defense did a phenomenal job today, so shout out to them for crashing in on the ball and communicating.”

Despite the loss, USM coach Samantha Adey is was proud of how her Wildcats competed with one of their biggest conference rivals. The 2-goal margin of victory was a sign that the Wildcats are moving in the right direction as a program.

“Arrowhead has always sort of been the Goliath – they are a gigantic school, and we’re a small school,” Adey said. “They’ve sort of had the upper hand on us for a long time, and I think this was the first time our players got to see they’re a beatable team and they can be that team.”

by Brian Salgado

Girls LAX Players Head to Women’s National Tournament for Consecutive Year

With the unbridled growth of lacrosse in the state, athletes from throughout Wisconsin are getting exposure to some of the most prominent tournaments in the U.S. Later this month, the girls side of the sport will be making its second appearance the Women’s National Tournament (WNT), one of high school lacrosse’s most prestigious events.

Team Wisconsin first played in the WNT – which runs alongside the Women’s NCAA Final Four on Memorial Day weekend every year – in 2016. In its first WNT appearance last year, Team Wisconsin held its own, walking away with a 2-2 record.

Before 2016, athletes from Wisconsin had to try out for co-op team shared with Illinois, which was focused primarily on players from Illinois. Now, a Wisconsin player can try out for the state squad after being nominated by her coach.

Team Wisconsin selects 22 players and two alternates for the squad. Two coaches are selected to run the team by a committee of their peers.
The 2017 tournament will be held at Yale University.

2017 Team Wisconsin

Head Coach: Tom Truttschel, Arrowhead
Assistant Coach: Ashley Lochner, Waunakee

Players/HS Team:

Isabella Barnard, Franklin
Jacklyn Batley, Arrowhead
Emily Becker, Kenosha
Grace Black, Brookfield
Bridget Brown, Homestead
Cassidy Darling, Ozaukee
Tara DeLeo, Middleton
Landry Elliott, WNS
Audrey Engman, USM
Julia Fermanich, Middleton
Lauren Flemma, WNS
Sophia Gehling, Waunakee
Ashley Hoffman, Franklin
Lauren Lex, WNS
Abbey Lippold, Arrowhead
Eleanor Mackey, Middleton
Aubrey McLaren, WNS
Lia Oren, WNS
Chloe Smith, Mukwonago
Catherine Taphorn, WNS
Lindsay Tazalla, WNS
Brook Uihlein, USM

Alternates:
Megan Mikolojewski, DSHA
Lexi Basel, Middleton

by Brian Salgado

State Preview Becomes a Laser Show

Friday night’s matchup between the Kettle Moraine and Arrowhead boys lacrosse teams at Carroll University’s Schneider Stadium had all the trappings of a sneak peek of the a potential state final matchup. The game featured two perennial Wisconsin powerhouses battling for first place in the toughest conference at the site where the state title game is scheduled about a month from now.

Instead of a nail-biter, however, Kettle Moraine – the No. 5 team in the state – beat top-ranked Arrowhead 18-6, taking sole possession of first in the Classic 8 – Red Conference while sending a message to the rest of Wisconsin that the defending champions aren’t ready to relinquish their crown just yet.

“Last year, we played on this field and we won state, so I love this field,” senior middie Nick Psicihulis said. “This [game] pretty much clinches the [conference] championship if we can just carry it out from here, so this is a great win for us as a team.”

Despite winning the state title in 2016, Kettle Moraine (13-6, 3-0 Classic 8 – Red) lost at Arrowhead (8-2, 4-1) during the regular season. In fact, the Lasers entered the game with a 3-10 record against the Warhawks overall.

“It’s a great opponent and a very emotional game with the KM/Arrowhead rivalry, and they generally have had our number throughout the years, so it was nice to see that tonight,” Lasers coach Michael Stefan said. “With the rivalry, we tried to downplay the emotion because we wanted them to worry more about the game rather than the rivalry. But they were excited and had the whole week to prep for this game.”

That dominance evaporated early in Friday’s game as the Lasers took a 4-0 lead with 3 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first quarter and never looked back. Psicihulis had two assists and a goal during that stretch.

The Warhawks closed to within two goals in the second quarter. Arrowhead started the period with a 3-1 scoring run – including one of Kyle Cissne’s two goals – to make the score 6-4.

However, the Lasers extended their lead to 9-4 heading into halftime and turned up the intensity after intermission. In the second half, Kettle Moraine’s athleticism proved no match for Arrowhead as the Lasers ran through and around would-be defenders to finish the game with a 9-2 scoring run.

Freshman Chris Bender led Kettle Moraine with four goals, and Malloy Murphy added three goals and three assists, as well.
It takes a team effort to get the nonstop clock rolling against your fiercest rival that also happens to be the No. 1 team in the state – and that’s exactly what Stephan got out of the Lasers on Friday night.

“It wasn’t one individual player, but it was 26 of them, so I’m proud of that,” Stephan said. “This game is always one of the biggest of the season not just because of the rivalry, but because of the implications. The conference championship generally has run through Arrowhead the last couple years, and while we’ve been doing well, they’re generally the team to beat.”
Kettle Moraine will host Waukesha next Tuesday for next Classic 8 – Red matchup. Arrowhead hosts Appleton East Saturday.

by Brian Salgado

WNS Defense Dominates University School to Remain Undefeated in Classic 8 Play

Heading into Tuesday night’s contest with its biggest rival, the University School of Milwaukee’s (USM) girl’s lacrosse team was averaging almost 17 goals a game with an undefeated season on the line.

However, the Whitefish Bay/Nicolet/Shorewood (WNS) co-op has staked its success on staunch defense, and the Wolfpack stifled its Classic 8 foe in a 9-3 victory at USM’s Liz Krieg Field.

“I think personally that our defense is the heart of our program,” WNS coach Meredith Donaldson said. “We have really tried to make that be the case in the three years since I came here.”

WNS (6-0, 3-0 Classic 8) relied on the suffocating defense led by sophomore rover Lauren Lex, who took on some of the most difficult defensive assignments of the night and handled them with no problems.

“I have never seen a defensive player stop an attacker with a head full of steam just like that on a dime quite like Lex does,” Donaldson said.

When the Wildcats managed to break through, junior goalie Lia Oren was there to stop them. The 2016 All-State goaltender saved 12 shots for the Wolfpack.
“She was the best in the state last year and she’s getting a lot better, which is great for us,” Lex said.

The Wildcats remained in striking distance as the Wolfpack held a 5-2 lead at the 17 minute, 51 second mark in the second half. That was a before patch of artificial turf came loose toward one end of Krieg Field, causing a delay of approximately 10 minutes.

Once play resumed, the Wolfpack’s offense went to work. Freshman Lauren Flemma scored two goals in 30 seconds in the 12th minute to extend the Wolfpack’s lead to 7-2.
“We call her a little mini truck because she can go zero to 60 in two seconds flat, she is strong and powerful, and she’s a smart player,” Donaldson said. “Seeing her come out of the box like that as a freshman is really fun to watch.”

Junior Brooke Weber led the Wolfpack with three goals, and sophomore Aubrey McLaren added two for WNS.

For USM, coach Samantha Adey said the familiarity of the two teams were an issue for her Wildcats. Junior Grace Berrien managed to score twice on the Wolfpack, but USM couldn’t adjust to the backer defense WNS played throughout the game.

“They play a lot in the offseason with a lot of the kids on our team, so they know their strengths,” Adey said. “We weren’t able to adapt well and make changes to what was comfortable for us, so we know we need to be a little more versatile when presented with our favorite moves being taken away.”

Next up for WNS is a road game at 5 p.m., Thursday at Mukwonago. USM heads to Kettle Moraine for a 5 p.m. opening draw on Thursday, as well.