By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School soccer team made its only game last week count.
The Elks prepped for the WIAA Division 1 regional tournament by defeating East Troy 8-1 Oct. 2 at East Troy.
Adam Skoczylas led the Elks with three goals and Jon Stopple scored two. Leading scorer Brandon Riese chipped in one.
“We were just happy that a lot of people got to play and we got the win,” Elks coach BZ Kayser said. “Some of our starters needed rest, at the same time.”
The Elks went a week between games before playing Janesville Parker in their regional opener at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at Elkhorn.
“I like to leave a window open at the end of the season to let people recoup,” Kayser said.
Kayser said he likes his late-season practices to function more like a pre-season camp, in which he focuses on coaching and development.
“You don’t get as much time to coach during the season and that’s the part I love,” Kayser said. “The games are the easy part. It’s the time in between that I love.”
Hopefully Kayser and the Elks didn’t overlook Parker. The Vikings finished 5-16-1 overall and 1-8 in the Big Eight Conference, in which they play against schools from Beloit, Janesville and Madison.
Looming large in the Elks regional bracket is a potential rematch with Delavan-Darien, which the Elks played twice this season.
The Elks are seeded third in the 15-team bracket. Parker is 14th. Delavan-Darien is seeded sixth and played Janesville Craig in the first round of regionals Tuesday at Delavan.
The Elks beat the Comets 1-0 Sept. 27 at Elkhorn to clinch the Southern Lakes Conference title. The two teams played to a scoreless tie Sept. 20 at Delavan.
Kayser said he didn’t think Delavan-Darien received a high enough seed in the regional/sectional bracket. If the Elks and Comets play for a third time this season they will do so today, likely at Elkhorn.
Elkhorn is the two-time defending SLC champion and advanced last season to the WIAA Division 1 state soccer tournament at Milwaukee’s Uihlein Park, where the Elks lost 3-0 to Neenah in the quarterfinals.
