By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys soccer team needed an easy win before starting the WIAA Division 2 playoffs.
The Elks routed East Troy 6-0 Oct. 15 in a non-conference match at home in the final match of the regular season for both squads.
“I think East Troy is down a little bit,” Elks coach BZ Kayser said. “It wasn’t like we were playing against a power, but they’re a really well-coached team with some good players.”
The Elks (12-5-1) earned the No. 1 seed in their regional bracket and opened play in the WIAA Division 2 playoffs with a regional semifinal match against Burlington (0-12-1) Tuesday at home.
If the Elks won they will face either Waterford (6-10-2) or Fort Atkinson (3-15) Saturday at home for the regional title. The Wolverines and Fort played Tuesday at Waterford.
Seventh-seeded Wilmot (3-13-4) played at second-seeded Milton (10-5-2) and third-seeded Stoughton (8-7-3) played at sixth-seeded Westosha Central (3-14-2) Tuesday in regional semifinal matches. The winners play Saturday.
Tyler Daehn scored twice and Matt Nelson, Ian Nowell and Vince Umnus each scored once for the Elks against the Trojans (8-11-4). Elkhorn led 4-0 at halftime.
“Our defense pretty much shut them down,” Kayser said. “They didn’t get many looks at all. I don’t think our goalkeeper even made a save, to be honest with you.”
Kayser said the Elks executed well on set pieces against East Troy.
“We scored on a lot of set pieces,” Kayser said. “Our corner kicks worked really well. That was something against Delavan that was actually awful.”
The Elks lost 3-0 Oct. 13 at Delavan to the Comets in the title match of the Southern Lakes Conference tournament. The Elks entered as four-time defending conference tournament champions.
The Comets (21-0) are the defending WIAA Division 3 state champions and are ranked No. 1 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Division 3 state poll.
Kayser said the Elks played with three forwards against the Comets instead of two, which means Elkhorn pulled a player from its defensive backfield in favor of another up front.
“We only played with three (defenders),” Kayser said. “We kind of left them in a bad position. They knew that going in – that they were not going to have as much help.”
The Comets’ Tigrio Huerta scored in the first half and gave Delavan-Darien a 1-0 halftime lead. Luis Nova and Jason Cano scored in the second half for the Comets.
