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Cooler heads prevail
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Monroe senior Mohammad Assaf runs after the ball against Cambridge-Deerfield. (Times photo: Marissa Weiher)
MONROE - Senior defender McKenzy Foley didn't downplay how chippy the Monroe boys soccer team's 2-1 win over Cambridge-Deerfield got in the second half.

Monroe freshman Nick Schumacher scored a header goal in the first 17 seconds of the second half on an assist from Foley, and junior Ryne Miller scored a goal on a penalty kick to lift the Cheesemakers to a Senior Night win Monday at Honey Creek Park.

Cambridge-Deerfield (0-7) was called for five fouls, and Kyle Kautzer was ejected after receiving a red card for arguing with the ref after he was called for tripping in the 56th minute. Monroe senior Niven Tomasiewicz received a yellow card for running into Cambridge-Deerfield goalkeeper Noah Heim in the 62nd minute.

"The biggest thing is probably arguing with the ref," Foley said. "He wasn't going to change his call if we argued with him. It seems like we have a problem with that and then they call more fouls on us than they normally would. It felt great to get the win especially on Senior Night."

Both teams played to a scoreless first half, but it didn't take the Cheesemakers (4-3-1) long to strike in the second half. Foley lofted a long pass down the field and Schumacher ran underneath the ball. He beat Heim to the ball and scored on a header to give the Cheesemakers a 1-0 lead.

"It felt nice to have my first goal and contribute to the Senior Night win," Schumacher said. "I have been waiting for my first goal, and I finally got it. It was a fun opportunity. I have to give a lot of credit to McKenzy. He put a good ball out there for me."

Miller's goal gave the Cheesemakers a 2-0 lead at 47:46. The Cheesemakers cashed in on the penalty kick that came on a tripping call on the United.

Monroe senior Adam Ninmer had a golden opportunity to extend the Cheesemakers' lead, but his penalty kick was hammered off the post. The United got back into the game when the Cheesemakers were called late for tripping. Cambridge-Deerfield's Quinn O'Connor scored a goal on the ensuing penalty kick to slice the Cheesemakers' lead to 2-1. Cambridge-Deerfield's Marco Zaldumbide had one shot in the final 40 seconds to tie the game, but the shot went off the cross bar and the Cheesemakers survived.

Monroe coach Tony Vasquez liked the way the Cheesemakers hung on for the victory, but he isn't satisfied with the missed opportunities.

"Usually when you have a two-goal lead and make a penalty kick that sparks you," Vasquez said. "We then missed a penalty kick and they made a penalty kick. It makes everything more tense. It was tense for both sides. That led to some of the cheap fouls. We really made it harder on ourselves."

The United were down to just a two-man bench after Kautzer was ejected and another player battled illness.

"I think we should have scored a little more," Schumacher said. "We scored two goals when they had 11 players. We should have been able to score more when they were down to 10."

Monroe junior goalkeeper Atticus Pond had 11 saves, and Heim had 10 saves for the United.

Foley said the Cheesemakers wore down Cambridge-Deerfield in the second half.

"After that red card they had to be careful (not) to get a yellow or red card or they would have been down even more," Foley said. "The coaches got us excited at halftime, and we came out ready to play."

Vasquez shuffled up his lineup at the midfield position.

"A couple of players spent more time complaining about what position they usually play than playing soccer," Vasquez said. "Instead of concentrating on the game they were worried about what position they were playing. It took away from some of our offense and defense."

Monroe will open up Badger South Conference play by hosting Stoughton at 5 p.m. Thursday at Honey Creek Park. Both Monroe and Stoughton have played DeForest this season. The Cheesemakers tied DeForest 2-2, and Stoughton and the Norskies played to a 0-0 tie.

"It's important to start out conference good," Vasquez said. "The way our schedule lines up it gets tougher later in the season. It's good to get a couple of wins and work to get better. Hopefully, by the time we play the harder teams our team is playing better soccer."