By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The need to take risks in pursuit of a conference title took the Elkhorn Area High School girls soccer team out of its game, and led to the squad’s most lopsided defeat of the season.
Elkhorn lost 6-0 May 26 to the Demons at Burlington in the title match of the Southern Lakes Conference tournament.
The Elks beat Union Grove 2-1 May 24 on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw in regulation in the conference semifinals.
Elkhorn closed its regular season May 28 with a 4-0 non-conference victory against the Trojans at East Troy.
Elkhorn is seeded second in its regional bracket. The Elks (16-1-4) play seventh-seeded Fort Atkinson (4-10-2) tonight at home in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal match.
The winner plays either sixth-seeded Westosha Central (5-9-3) or third-seeded Milton (10-5) Saturday at Elkhorn.
The Elks beat Fort Atkinson 2-0 April 12 in a non-conference match at home.
Burlington beat Waterford 3-2 May 24 at home to advance to the conference title match. The Elks shootout victory against the Broncos meant Elkhorn needed to beat the Demons for any chance at a share of the conference title. A tie with Burlington would give the Demons the conference title outright.
“It forced me to play a really aggressive style, more aggressive than I wanted to,” Elks coach BZ Kayser said. “Unfortunately, it kind of backfired.”
