The Middleton boys lacrosse team’s journey to the 2019 Wisconsin state title game began long before the Cardinals beat Waunakee, 8-6, in Wednesday night’s semifinal game at Breitenbach Stadium.
“We made a lot of changes in the program, starting with the youth program, and the boys have worked hard all offseason to get to this point,” said Sanford Erdahl, Middleton coach and the 2019 Coach of the Year for the Big Badger Conference. “The senior squad that I have is something special, and they have been playing together for a long time.”
The result of this overhaul is Erdahl’s first trip to the state final in just his third year at the helm of the Cardinals, and his seniors are ready to reward him for the turnaround.
“I think we have a dedication to play for Coach ‘Ford,’” Middleton senior defenseman Connor Hellenbrand said. “We’ve been saying, ‘We gotta do it for him.’”
The No. 2 Cardinals will face top-seeded Kettle Moraine Saturday night for the state championship at Carroll University’s Schneider Stadium.
First, Middleton (17-3) had to get past Waunakee (13-10), one of the Cardinals’ top rivals in the Big Badger Conference. Although Middleton never trailed in this game, the Cardinals maintained a slim 4-2 lead heading into half after Waunakee sophomore attack Jack Gengler score the second of his game-high four goals with 10 seconds left in the first half.
Then the Cardinals got serious on defense. Middleton pitched a shutout in the third quarter, scoring four unanswered goals in the period to take an 8-2 lead. Senior attack Kevin Grelle — an all-conference first-team selection — scored two of his team-high three goals in the third.
“I had to switch it up a bit as they were keying on me, but my teammates were finding me as I was getting the good looks and putting them away,” Grelle said. Junior middie Drew Teff scored Middleton’s other two goals in the third.
The Warriors wouldn’t go down quietly, however. Waunakee scored four unanswered goals of their own in the fourth quarter to cut Middleton’s lead to two with just 14 seconds left to play, led once again by Gengler, who had two goals in the period.
Despite the loss, Waunakee coach Mike Reiter has plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future. The Warriors have a young core of starters with seven sophomores and a junior who will return for the 2020 campaign, and a run to the state semifinals will prove to be great experience.
“We certainly saw how we can play when we play with purpose,” Reiter said. “In those last 8 minutes, we played like we were not gonna lose and gave it everything we got. That is great to see from a bunch of high school kids.”
