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.”
