Girls soccer opens season April 9 in Fort Atkinson
By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
At the very least, BZ Kayser and the Elkhorn Area High School girls soccer team are in for an interesting season.
Kayser, the long-time coach of the Elkhorn boys, took over the girls earlier this spring after previous coach Eryca Card retired.
In addition to learning about new players and new teams, Kayser is also coaching a girls’ team for the first time.
The Elks started practicing on March 23, and Kayser said he already noticed talent in the ranks.
“I do think we’ve got some nice pieces to challenge everybody,” Kayser said. “There are some nice pieces there, and I think we can do some nice things.”
So much is new for the Elks and Kayser. Kayser will begin his sixth season with the boys this fall, which affords him a base of knowledge regarding the strength of opponents. It also provides Kayser a means of comparison through which the Elks’ talent can be effectively gauged.
The learning curve with the girls is proving a bit more steep.
“Everyone keeps saying, ‘How’s the team look?’” Kayser said. “I keep saying, ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t know what the level of the other teams is. I might think we look good.
“I think it’s coming together. I just don’t know what the other teams have out there for talent.”
Elkhorn finished 8-13 overall last season, and went 3-4 and tied for fifth in the Southern Lakes Conference.
As for talent, the Elks’ best returning player is Megan Skoczylas. The junior midfielder is the reigning SLC Player of the Year.
“We’re going to have her in the midfield and run everything through her offensively, Kayser said. “Defensively, she’s pretty good. She tackles well, she sees the field very, very well – she’s a playmaker, for sure.”
Elise Gorecki returns at forward, and midfielder Natasha Virrueta is also expected to contribute. Michaela Patryn will line-up on defense.
Abby Price, Jessica Dittner, Hailey Przybylski, Jessica Nehs and Rachel Larson are listed as defenders on the Elks’ roster in WisSports.net.
Ally Greene is listed at forward, and Olivia Krueger, Emma Wedige and Addy Gonzales are listed at midfield.
Kendel Gustisha is at forward-defense and Rachel Drettwan and Mackenzie Umnus are listed at midfield-defense. Abby Bochat is the Elks’ goaltender.
Kayser said the girls seem to be taking well to his coaching style, and said competition for positions is open.
“I told people just because you were on varsity last year doesn’t mean you’re going to be on the varsity,” Kayser said. “If we’re moving underclassmen up we’re not moving them up to sit on the bench – they’re coming up to play.”
Kayser said about five or six freshman are in the mix for significant minutes. The Elks would ideally like to run a 3-4-3 alignment, which is three forwards, four midfielders and three defenders.
Kayser said the team will likely start the season playing in a 4-4-2 alignment, which is four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards.
Kayser said the Elks’ goal this season is to win the Southern Lakes Conference. Burlington finished undefeated (7-0) last year in regular season conference play and is the defending champion. Wilmot finished 0-7.
Parity was the rule aside from those two. Badger, Delavan-Darien and Waterford finished 4-3, and Elkhorn, Union Grove and Westosha Central finished 3-4.
“Our goal is to win conference every year,” Kayser said. “Either compete for a conference title of a conference tournament title.”
Elkhorn opens the regular season April 9 with a non-conference game at Fort Atkinson.
