Kettle Moraine may have looked outside the borders of Wisconsin to boost its nonconference schedule this season, but there is no doubt the Lasers’ games against rival Arrowhead is the main barometer for where they stand in any given season.
On Tuesday night, Kettle Moraine showed it is at the top of Wisconsin’s class once again, holding off a late surge to defeat the Warhawks 16-9 at Arrowhead’s Pfeiffer Field at Taraska Stadium.
“I thought we were a great team for about 40 minutes today,” Lasers coach Michael Stefan said. “I don’t think the scores are indicative of where both teams are at. We were just successful early on, and we were able to capitalize and move the ball well today.”
It was all Kettle Moraine (6-5, 3-0 Classic 8 Conference) from the opening face off onward on a cold, rainy and windy night in Hartland. The Lasers scored three unanswered goals and had a 5-1 lead with a 1 minute, 49 seconds left to play in the first quarter. By the end of the first half, the Lasers extended that lead to 10-1 with the help of junior middie Caleb Hotchkiss, who scored three of his five goals before halftime.
“It’s awesome because we’ve had a rivalry with Arrowhead forever,” Hotchkiss said. “It’s a statement to show we’re one of the best teams in the state because we can beat the best teams in the state.”
Arrowhead (5-1, 2-1) scored its second goal of the game early in the second half, but Kettle Moraine responded with four unanswered goals. Officials instated the running clock rule when Hotchkiss’s fifth and final goal of the game gave the Lasers a 12-goal lead with 6:53 left in the quarter.
Arrowhead had a run of its own in the fourth quarter that brought the Lasers’ lead down to seven. Senior Cole Siepmann led the late charge for the Warhawks, adding a goal and an assist during the seven-goal run.
After taking on competitors from throughout the United States — and suffering through a 2-5 record against out-of-state foes — the Lasers are now 4-0 against their Wisconsin counterparts. The seven-goal difference against Arrowhead is the closest final tally in those four in-state games thus far.
“We look at each game as a 48-minute opportunity to get better,” Stefan says. “We learn from all our games. Motivation isn’t hard when you’re looking at what you could have done better rather than the final result.
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