Wins send Comets to semi-final undefeated
By Kevin Cunningham
Correspondent
Partly thanks to being defending state champions a year ago and its 21-0 record during the regular season, the Delavan-Darien boys soccer team earned a No. 1 seed in its region in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament.
The Comets waited for their opponent to move on in technically the first round play-in game, and Saint Anthony advanced past Veritas-Tenor, 5-3. The Comets then faced Saint Anthony on Oct. 22, and, like much of the team’s games during the regular season, a fast start to the match ensued.
Three first-half goals were put in by the Comets by three different players, something that head coach Mike Marse has predicated all season long. Jason Cano opened the game with a goal, and then Gerardo Rodriguez scored the second, with Tigrio Huerta capitalizing with the third.
The Comets led 3-0 at half, then Huerta went on to score two more in the second, garnering a hat trick in the team’s first playoff game. Saint Anthony scored a late goal, but the Comets moved on to play Saint Thomas More on Saturday after winning 5-1.
Only four times during the regular season did the Comets put up three or fewer goals in a game – twice against Elkhorn, once against Milwaukee Lutheran and in the first match of the season, the No. 1-ranked team managed only two goals in its win over Big Foot-Williams Bay.
Against Saint Anthony, the Comets put up only three goals once again. All season long, the team’s defense has held strong behind its powerful offense, generating more than six goals per game.
The defense only allowed opposing teams to score two goals in a game twice, and three goals twice as well during the regular season.
The three goals its offense scored against Saint Anthony proved to be enough as the defense came through, recording a shutout. Goalkeeper Ricardo Huerta made five saves in the match, while Jaime Rodriguez scored the lone two goals in the second half for the eventual 3-0 victory.
To this point in the playoffs, four different Comets have scored, while Tigrio Huerta has a hat trick. The team has outscored its opponents 8-1 in the first two rounds, looking to repeat as state champions.
The Comets’ next match is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Thursday at Delavan-Darien High School. The team’s opponent will be Whitnall, which enters as wissports.net’s No. 5-ranked team in Division 3 and has a 15-2-1 record overall.
The match will be deemed the WIAA sectional semi-final, and the winner will go on to play Saturday against the winner of Grafton-Shorewood. Grafton entered the postseason as the No. 2-ranked team, while the Comets were No. 1 and stand at 23-0 overall in 2015.
