By Kevin Cunningham
Correspondent
The Delavan-Darien High School boys soccer team brought its regular season to a close last week, which included the conference tournament final against Elkhorn.
Going into the game, the Comets held a 16-1-3 record with the team’s only loss coming against Elkhorn earlier in the season. The Comets lost that game 2-0 at Elkhorn in late September.
Because the Elks had the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, they hosted Delavan-Darien in the conference tournament final last week on Oct. 15. The Comets fell to Elkhorn for the second time this season, this time with a score of 4-0.
“They had three goals on long throws. We kind of overlooked how to defend those. Those three goals, we just didn’t defend those well. It put us in a bad spot. Otherwise, I think we played all right. The first six minutes before they scored, we were controlling the ball and playing good. In the latter part we played well again,” said Comets head coach Mike Marse.
“I don’t know if it’s just an Elkhorn thing, if we freak out about it, I’m not sure. We just don’t play well against them in general,” he added.
Delavan-Darien went to 16-2-3 overall before facing Beloit Memorial in its regular season finale. The Comets won that game 4-0, making the team’s record 17-2-3 going into the postseason.
Marse said he rested some players against Beloit Memorial ahead of the WIAA Tournament and the team scored all four of its goals in the first half. Delavan-Darien earned a No. 2 seed for the postseason while McFarland got the No. 1 seed. Marse said the seeding didn’t surprise him at all.
According to wissports.net, Delavan-Darien ranks as the No. 2 team in the state among Division 3 teams, while McFarland ranks No. 1. Mount Horeb, which is ranked as the No. 5 team in the state, is in Delavan-Darien’s regional as well as the No. 3 seed.
The Comets, thanks to earning that No. 2 seed, receive a first-round bye and were set to play the winner of No. 15 Mauston-No. 18 Black River Falls/Melrose-Mindoro at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Badger High School in Lake Geneva. If the Comets win Thursday, they will then move on to play the winner of No. 7 Edgewood-No. 10 West Salem on Saturday, Oct. 26 at a time and location to be determined.
McFarland was the state runner-up from a season ago, while Delavan-Darien lost in the Regional Final. The Comets have not played either McFarland or Mount Horeb to this point this season. Two years ago, in 2017, Delavan-Darien lost the state final to Mount Horeb 2-1, but the year prior defeated Mount Horeb in the state final by the same score of 2-1.
See more Comets sports in the Delavan Enterprise.
