By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School girls soccer team played the Southern Lakes Conference’s best in its final two matches of the regular season.
The Elks lost 6-3 May 21 in a SLC match at Waterford and 5-0 May 19 at home to Burlington. The Elks played Waterford Tuesday at Waterford in the first round of the SLC Tournament.
Elkhorn (9-4-1, 4-2-1 SLC) and Waterford were tied 3-3 with 18 minutes remaining in regulation in the May 21 match before BZ Kayser said the Elks “fell apart,” and allowed the Wolverines (13-5-1, 6-1 SLC) three goals before the end of the match.
“We created some opportunities,” Kayser said. “They have some really good forwards.”
Megan Skoczylas scored twice for Elkhorn and Olivia May scored once.
Kayser said the match against Waterford concerned him, given how the match against Burlington transpired.
“I was worried that we wouldn’t be alright,” Kayser said. “We just got so shell-shocked. I was worried how competitive we would be. We played really well. We really got after it.”
The Demons (11-3-3, 6-0-1 SLC) scored four goals in the first 20 minutes of the match against the Elks.
“They jumped on us really fast, really early, and we could just never recover,” Kayser said. “We just couldn’t match up with them.”
Kayser said the Elks changed some matchups from what they usually play, and the changes did not work for the best.
“We stopped the bleeding just before halftime and in the second half,” Kayser said. “They’re a good team. They’re probably the best team we’ve played so far, for sure. We knew they were going to be good.”
Kayser said the Elks’’ young squad lacks the veteran with big-game experience needed for games like those against the Demons and Wolverines.
“We don’t have that leadership of girls that have played in big games over a period of time,” Kayser said. “Hopefully, we keep learning and keep building.”
