MONROE - The Monroe boys soccer team knocked off McFarland, 2-0, in a game that was more than meaningful Tuesday.
Monroe (6-13, 0-6 Badger South) had only beaten McFarland once before in program history. The Cheesemakers also are gearing up for playoffs. And on top all of that, they were dedicating their brand new scoreboard - a project that had been in the works for years.
Junior forward Andrew Aurit made sure the scoreboard was working properly with 9 minutes, 7 seconds left to play in the first half.
Monroe had nearly scored moments earlier on a breakaway, but McFarland's goalie came up with a kick save that let the ball trickle just inches from the left post and out of bounds. On the ensuing corner kick, the Cheesemakers sent a hard shot at goal, but the keeper denied the first shot. Then Aurit swung his lower limb into the rebounded ball and sent it to the back of the net.
Headed into halftime, head coach Tony Stamm and assistant coach Tony Vasquez tried to keep their players calm, cool and collected by giving advice and encouragement.
In the second half, Monroe continued to dominate the ball from the point of attack.
"We did a very good job of controlling the center today. We had a lot of guys going towards the goal, and that helped control the ball in the zone enough to keep going after the goal," Stamm said.
With less than 18 minutes left to play in the second half, Monroe again had another breakaway opportunity. The Cheesemaker front line received a lovely pass inside the box from midfield with a 2-on-2 advantage against a defender and the goalie. As a Monroe player geared up to shoot, his legs were taken out from underneath him.
Penalty kick.
Brandon Wilson, a senior midfielder and sweeper, got the call to kick to the open net.
"I kept thinking to myself, 'Just keep it low. Keep it low, keep it low,' " Stamm said. "We do a pretty good job on penalty kicks, but sometimes we like to get our head up and send it over. But Brandon took his time and did an excellent job with it."
Wilson did just that and sent the ball beyond McFarland's reach to give the Cheese a 2-0 lead with just 17 minutes and change to play.
That was all Monroe needed.
"Our defense was great. Danny Becker was outstanding in goal again," Stamm said. "We're still giving up a lot of free kicks, and we have to work on that."
Monroe next likely will host Reedsburg in the Badger Conference crossover Challenge, though the opponent is yet to be determined.
From there, Monroe will move on to WIAA tournament play, where they hope to continue to improve and move on every day.
"This should help us a lot in the seeding. The seed meeting for playoffs is (Wednesday). And beating McFarland should definitely help with that," Stamm said.
Monroe's junior-varsity team lost 1-0 Tuesday.
Monroe (6-13, 0-6 Badger South) had only beaten McFarland once before in program history. The Cheesemakers also are gearing up for playoffs. And on top all of that, they were dedicating their brand new scoreboard - a project that had been in the works for years.
Junior forward Andrew Aurit made sure the scoreboard was working properly with 9 minutes, 7 seconds left to play in the first half.
Monroe had nearly scored moments earlier on a breakaway, but McFarland's goalie came up with a kick save that let the ball trickle just inches from the left post and out of bounds. On the ensuing corner kick, the Cheesemakers sent a hard shot at goal, but the keeper denied the first shot. Then Aurit swung his lower limb into the rebounded ball and sent it to the back of the net.
Headed into halftime, head coach Tony Stamm and assistant coach Tony Vasquez tried to keep their players calm, cool and collected by giving advice and encouragement.
In the second half, Monroe continued to dominate the ball from the point of attack.
"We did a very good job of controlling the center today. We had a lot of guys going towards the goal, and that helped control the ball in the zone enough to keep going after the goal," Stamm said.
With less than 18 minutes left to play in the second half, Monroe again had another breakaway opportunity. The Cheesemaker front line received a lovely pass inside the box from midfield with a 2-on-2 advantage against a defender and the goalie. As a Monroe player geared up to shoot, his legs were taken out from underneath him.
Penalty kick.
Brandon Wilson, a senior midfielder and sweeper, got the call to kick to the open net.
"I kept thinking to myself, 'Just keep it low. Keep it low, keep it low,' " Stamm said. "We do a pretty good job on penalty kicks, but sometimes we like to get our head up and send it over. But Brandon took his time and did an excellent job with it."
Wilson did just that and sent the ball beyond McFarland's reach to give the Cheese a 2-0 lead with just 17 minutes and change to play.
That was all Monroe needed.
"Our defense was great. Danny Becker was outstanding in goal again," Stamm said. "We're still giving up a lot of free kicks, and we have to work on that."
Monroe next likely will host Reedsburg in the Badger Conference crossover Challenge, though the opponent is yet to be determined.
From there, Monroe will move on to WIAA tournament play, where they hope to continue to improve and move on every day.
"This should help us a lot in the seeding. The seed meeting for playoffs is (Wednesday). And beating McFarland should definitely help with that," Stamm said.
Monroe's junior-varsity team lost 1-0 Tuesday.
