By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School soccer team finished last week 2-1-1.
It’s the middle “one” in that stat line, though – the loss – that might trouble them.
The Elks (9-2-1) defeated Burlington 4-0 Sept. 11 in a Southern Lakes Conference game at home, and followed that with a 6-2 drubbing of Waterford Sept. 13 in a SLC game at Waterford.
The Elks then traveled to Slinger Saturday to play in the Slinger Invitational.
Elkhorn tied Slinger 2-2, but won in a shootout, but lost 5-0 in the title game to Neenah. The Rockets beat Elkhorn 3-0 last year on Oct. 27 in the quarterfinals of the WIAA Division 1 state soccer tournament at Milwaukee’s Uihlein Park.
“We needed to play them first instead of playing them second,” coach BZ Kayser said of the Elks game against Neenah.
Kayser said the Elks typically play man-to-man defense. After playing Slinger to a draw and winning in a shootout, Kayser said the Elks lacked the energy for another man-to-man effort, and played zone against Neenah.
“We had heavy legs, and they were tired,” Kayser said of his Elks. Kayser also pointed out that Neenah defeated Waukesha Catholic Memorial 6-1 in its first game of the tournament and found opportunity to rest many players.
Against the Demons, Brandon Riese scored twice and Jon Stopple and Chandler Kayser also scored.
“We did a good job controlling the Burlington game,” BZ Kayser said. “I think we played pretty well. We’ve been playing pretty well.”
Riese scored another two goals against Waterford. Jeroham Duran, Ryan Nelson, Peter Meylink and Jose Estrada also scored.
The Elks played Union Grove Tuesday in a SLC game at Elkhorn and face Delavan-Darien today at Delavan.
The winner of the Elks-Comets game will be seeded first in the SLC tournament.
“They’re good,” BZ Kayser said of the Comets. “They have very good, strong, fast forwards and they’re very physical. Scoring goals will be very difficult for us. We actually play the same style of soccer.”
