By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, Elkhorn and Waukesha West were locked in a defensive battle in the WIAA Division 2 Boys Soccer Championship.
Even when the match went to a penalty kick shootout, points were hard to come by. Unfortunately for the Elks, the final score of 2-1 went in favor of the Wolverines.
The loss ended Elkhorn’s perfect season, as the team finished with a 20-1 record.
The Elks lined up their most consistent five shooters for the shootout, said coach BZ Kayser, based on who wanted to take the shots. Unfortunately for Elkhorn, two of the five kickers sent their shots well off the mark, including the final kick of the shootout.
“We work on them at practice all the time,” Kayser said. “That was like the worst we ever did. Some of the three that were missed had never been missed by that much in practice.
“That pressure gets to you,” he added. “We work on it at practice, and it just didn’t work.”
West barely fared better. Elkhorn goalie Romeo Morales made three critical stops in goal after the Wolverines scored on their first kick. The last save gave the Elks an opportunity to tie the PK score at 2-2.
Until that point, Elkhorn and West provided a stellar defensive contest. There were a total of just seven shots on goal between the two teams – three by Elkhorn and four by West – as both teams struggled to get the ball close to the net for a potential scoring opportunity.
While each goalie finished with saves equal to the shots on goal, a number of other shots also went high or wide of the mark.
The physical contest saw the two teams pick up three yellow cards between them, though none by the same player and no one was ejected. There were also 33 fouls committed in the game, 28 in regulation and five in overtime (all charged to Elkhorn).
In addition, both teams ended up making an injury substitution, and cramping by players on both teams was evident.
“We did everything we could do,” Kayser said. “We had more chances to score than they did. We just couldn’t tap them in.
“We worked really hard,” he added. “The guys did everything they could.”
For the full story, many photos and coverage of the Elks’ semifinal victory, please see the print edition of the Elkhorn Independent.
