By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
There were times in last week’s Rock Valley Conference matchup with visiting Big Foot that the East Troy High School boys soccer team followed the game plan to near perfection.
And that certainly was a positive for the Trojans – there just weren’t quite enough of those moments to make a difference.
Big Foot took control with three first-half goals and never looked back from there in a 5-1 victory. The loss dropped the Trojans to 2-10-1 overall and 1-8-0 in the RVC.
“We actually possessed the ball very well,” East Troy coach Mike Bottum said. “The midfield did a nice job moving the ball around and creating many forward opportunities.”
Once the Trojans got within striking distance, however, they need to put the ball away, their coach said.
“We continue to come up short in our attacking the third of the field,” he said. “We have worked in practice getting people forward more quickly during attacks.”
East Troy got on the scoreboard in the second half on a goal by Kai Bottum off an assist by Brett Harper, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
Mike Bottum also credited the midfield play of Kai and Lucas Bottum, Max Oldenburg and Evan Harding.
“We played well in the midfield,” he said.
The five goals scored by Big Foot doesn’t cause any panic, Bottum said, as he knows the mistakes his team made can be fixed.
“The goals scored against us came down to simple mental lapses,” he said. “Those are potentially easy to fix.”
East Troy returned to RVC action Tuesday night at Edgerton. Results were unavailable by press time.
East Troy hosts RVC North Division leader Whitewater Thursday night in its regular-season finale. The Trojans open WIAA regional playoff action next Tuesday, Oct. 15, at St. Thomas More at 4 p.m.
The winner advances to a regional semifinal Thursday, Oct. 17, against either Whitewater or Wisconsin Lutheran.
