MONROE — The young Cheesemaker squad missed their junior captain Marlies Brandli in a 5-0 loss to Milton on Tuesday, March 11. Brandli served her game suspension after receiving a red card in the Wisconsin Heights game.
Despite the loss, head coach Hannah Ormson continues to see improvement from her team. Last year, Milton defeated Monroe 6-0.
“We are seeing the fundamentals that we worked on last year paying off this year,” Ormson said. “We are seeing better passing — less boot ball. The girls are becoming more cohesive as a team.”
The game remained scoreless for nearly seven minutes before Jayda Swopes put one past goalkeeper Kaelyn Welch. Eight minutes later, Swopes made it 2-0. The Red Hawks took a 3-0 lead into the half with a goal from Ava Parke.
A minute into the second half, Holly Morehart scored for Milton. Jaylynn Basic capped the game with a shot that hit the top crossbar and bounced across the line for a goal.
Monroe had scoring opportunities late with breakaways by Atziry Ocampo, but the rest of the team was unable to catch up and support her for a goal.
“Atziry has a drive unlike any player I’ve seen,” Ormson said. “She’s got an amazing pull back that allows her to create space and separation from her defenders. We are excited to see what she does with the rest of the season.”
Welch suffered the loss in net, but Ormson sees promise from the Cheesemaker goalkeeper.
“She [Kaelyn] is keeping us in closer games by being aggressive. When she becomes aggressive, she not only saves our defense time running back but also makes incredible saves from the PK on,” Ormson said. “She’s not just a goal-line keeper. She’s coming to the ball when needed and saving the team tons of running in the process.”
SUGAR RIVER 8, WISCONSIN HEIGHTS 0
BELLEVILLE — The Raiders opened their conference play with a convincing shutout of Wisconsin Heights on Tuesday, April 11.
Bella Brenkman started the game hot, scoring in the second minute to put Sugar River on the board. The Raiders added two more goals in the first half—one apiece from Hannah Boldebuck and Kylie Humke.
Humke then assisted Zoey Lovejoy for the first goal in the second half. Haley Thompson contributed to the next three goals, assisting Lily Maynard and scoring twice. Lainey Winkers scored the final goal in the 80th minute, assisted by Brenkman.
In net, Lutz made one save for the win.
