Elk’s face No. 1 seeded Milton in regional
By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys soccer team is running out of space in its trophy case.
The Elks won their fourth consecutive WIAA Regional title Oct. 16 with a 1-0 victory against Stoughton in a WIAA Division 2 regional final at Elkhorn.
“You don’t want to be the class or group that doesn’t win it,” Elks coach BZ Kayser said. “You’ve got these expectations that are great, and everyone wants to live up to those expectations.”
Elkhorn, seeded second in its regional bracket, defeated seventh-seeded Fort Atkinson 3-0 Oct. 14 in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal at Elkhorn to advance to the final.
Stoughton, seeded third, defeated sixth-seeded Westosha Central 2-0 Oct.14 in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal at Salem.
The Elks (14-3-3) play Milton, seeded No. 1 in the regional, at 6 p.m. tonight at Milton. The winner plays either Oregon or Waunakee Saturday at Wilmot in the sectional final for a trip to the WIAA Division 2 State Tournament Oct. 30-31 at Milwaukee’s Uihlein Soccer Park.
Against Stoughton (11-7-4) Aaron Wales scored the Elks’ only goal on a penalty kick with 22:07 elapsed in the first period.
The Elks drew a penalty kick when a Stoughton defender took down Chandler Kayser inside the 18-yard box.
“It was pretty evenly matched, to be quite honest,” Elks coach BZ Kayser said. “We just kept fighting and they kept fighting.”
Sid Babu, Chandler Kayser and Justice Batchell scored for Elkhorn against Fort Atkinson (2-13-3). The Elks scored all of their goals in the second half, when they played with the wind at their backs.
“Once we got the wind at our backs in the second half they never had another shot on goal,” BZ Kayser said. “You never know what’s going to happen. You never want to get in a shootout, especially when you’re the higher-seeded team.”
The Elks lost 3-0 to Milton in a non-conference match Aug. 23 at home in Elkhorn’s second game of the season. Milton is seeded No. 1 in its half of the sectional bracket.
“I think we’re pretty evenly matched,” BZ Kayser said. “I think we’ll be okay. I’m not saying we’re going to win, but we can play with them. There is no doubt about that.”
A familiar foe
Elkhorn outshot Milton 8-6 in the team’s first meeting, one BZ Kasyer said was closer than the final score might indicate.
Elkhorn struggled to find its scoring touch early in the season, and played its personnel further up the field after Milton scored in an effort to generate offense. Milton (13-4-4) got behind the Elks’ defense and scored some easy goals after Elkhorn shifted its system.
Milton beat eighth-seeded Burlington 3-0 Oct. 14 at home in the regional semifinal and fourth-seeded Wilmot 1-0 (3-2) in a shootout Oct. 16 at home in the regional final.
The winner of the Elkhorn-Milton match plays the winner of the Waunakee-Oregon match at 5 p.m. Saturday at Wilmot in the sectional final.
Oregon is seeded No. 1 in its half of the sectional bracket and Waunakee is seeded sixth. Oregon and Waunakee play tonight at Oregon.
Oregon is the defending WIAA Division 2 state champion and is ranked third in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state rankings.
The Elks’ 2013 season ended with a loss to Oregon in horrifying fashion, on a disputed call, one game away from the state tournament for a team with more guts than pure talent.
The Elks lost to Oregon 1-0 in double overtime Oct. 26, 2013, at Waunakee in the sectional final. Oregon’s Nick Steidemann scored on a penalty kick after a referee away from the ball assessed the Elks a yellow card inside the 18-yard-box.
