By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
Cameron Jacobson earned Most Valuable Player honors for the Elkhorn Area High School girls soccer team. The squad recently gathered at Elkhorn High and celebrated the end of their season by handing out awards.
Jacobson also earned Second Team All-Southern Lakes Conference honors as a midfielder.
Forward Olivia May earned All-SLC First Team honors, and is the Elks’ Offensive Player of the Year.
Caroline Terry is the Elks’ Defensive Player of the Year. Leesa Sesing won the Elks’ Most Improved Player of the Year award.
Midfielder Alex Gonzales earned Honorable Mention All-SLC honors.
Elkhorn’s season came to an end with an 8-0 loss June 3 in a WIAA Division 2 regional final at Oregon.
The Elks opened their postseason June 1 with a 6-1 win against Reedsburg. Elkhorn ends its season with an overall record of 10-9-1.
Elkhorn was eighth in its sectional bracket. Oregon is seeded first. The Panthers play today at home against fourth-seeded Monona Grove (12-7-2) in a sectional semifinal.
“They’re really, really good,” BZ Kayser said of Oregon. “They’re going to make it again (to state). There’s no one in our sectional that can play with them.”
Oregon (12-1-4) entered the match against the Elks ranked fourth in Division 2 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state poll.
The Panthers won the Division 2 state title in 2015, and lost in a shootout in last season’s Division 2 title match to Homestead.
BZ Kayser said most of the members of the Oregon High School team play club soccer for the Madison 56ers.
“We couldn’t do anything against them,” BZ Kayser said. “It was a different level of girls high school soccer.”
The disparity between Oregon and Elkhorn mirrored the disparity between Reedsburg and Elkhorn.
“We played well, to score six goals,” BZ Kayser said. “We’d been playing well.”
Reedsburg scored its only goal on a penalty kick after an Elkhorn player tripped a Reedsburg player within the 18-yard box.
“We controlled that whole game,” BZ Kayser said. “They didn’t worry us at all. It was like up playing against Oregon – it was night and day.”
The Elks led Reedsburg (9-10-3) 1-0 at halftime. May finished with three goals. Kayla Malsch and Cailin Jacobs each added one.
