MONROE — Despite a 4-0 final score, Monroe hung with Stoughton through much of a cold, wet and windy nonconference game on Thursday, April 18. The Vikings scored three goals in the final 11 minutes to pull away with a win.
“I’m super proud, especially of our first half,” Monroe head coach Sam Rudi said. “We came out strong; we came out as a team; and we came out aggressively. In the second half, we got a bit dejected with the goals that were scored. The score was deceiving. I think we played evenly with them the whole game and then at the end we lost some steam with the goals that were scored.”
What set the tone for Monroe was Kaelyn Welch’s penalty kick save just under three minutes into the game. The Cheesemakers committed a foul inside the box, setting up a kick for Kiera Vesterdahl, who sent it right into the chest of Welch.
“She saved a phenomenal goal. That is one of the hardest things to do,” senior teammate Karlee Boll said of Welch’s PK save. “That gave her confidence. It boosted the defense to not give anything easy and also told us, ‘We got this. We aren’t going to let anything go past us.’ For a while, we kept that going. That helped a lot.”
Defense turned to offense, as Monroe kept the ball on its half for much of the first frame. The Cheesemakers had plenty of scoring opportunities within the box, including a shot from Boll that went wide of the net and one from Addison Bartholf that went through the field goal post above the goal.
The only hiccup was a hand ball inside the box on a Stoughton corner kick, which set up another penalty kick for the Vikings. This time, Vesterdal hit the bottom left corner for a score 10 minutes into the game.
Stoughton nearly scored two minutes later on another corner kick, but the ball ricocheted off defender Shyanne Camron’s chest and hit the football goal post above the net. Welch then tallied back-to-back saves in the 14th minute.
Monroe ended the half with momentum, as Boll dribbled down the right side on a breakaway in the final seconds. Ellah Ketelsen collided with her as time expired, preventing Boll from getting a shot off.
Stoughton had the first scoring opportunity again in the second half, as Kennedy Christensen’s shot hit the right post. A rebound escaped, but Marlies Brandli cleared the ball before a Viking player could capitalize on the second-chance opportunity.
In the 48th minute, Welch made a leaping save, fully extending her body to tip a shot taken from just inside the box. On the ensuing corner kick, Stoughton was unable to get a shot off.
Monroe had two chances to tie the game in the second half, both coming on the back side.
In the 53rd minute, Boll led Bartholf with a pass up the right side. One defender followed Bartholf and another three crowded the box, anticipating Bartholf’s pass to Camron. The ball sailed over Camron’s head to a wide-open Mary McKenzie on the far side. She had to control the pass, giving Stoughton goalkeeper Janice Osborne enough time to shift over and save the shot.
Less than a minute later, Boll had the same look off a throw in, but her shot hit the post.
“We are really working on far post because we’ve had success with it in our other games, too. I think it would have turned our attitudes (if one of them had gone in),” Rudi said. “It would have been a tie game and we may have come back to win.”
Instead, the frustration of missed opportunities got the best of the Cheesemakers.
With 11 minutes left in the game, Christensen took a shot from just inside the box. Welch made the initial save but let up a rebound that landed right on the foot of Payton Hefty for a second-chance score. Three minutes later, Christensen put the game away with a goal inside the 6-yard box. Stoughton scored its final goal at the 76-minute mark.
Despite the loss, Rudi is seeing improvement from her team. Last season, Monroe lost to Stoughton via mercy rule, 8-0
“Against a Badger Conference opponent, a 4-0 loss is not the worst thing we’ve ever seen,” she said. “I think we’ve learned some valuable lessons tonight that we can take forward. I think this will set us up better for our conference opponents.”
MONROE 4, WISCONSIN HEIGHTS-BARNEVELD 2
MONROE — The Cheesemakers responded quickly with a nonconference win over the Vanguards on Friday, April 19.
Monroe got out to a quick start with a goal from McKenzie at 4:50. She received the throw in from Brandli and chipped it over goalkeeper Emma Mickelson’s head. Brandli was credited with the second goal three minutes later, as Mickelson mishandled her throw in. Vanguard defenders attempted to clear the ball but ended up kicking it into the back of the net instead. With 35 seconds left in the first frame, Brandli made it 3-0 with a free kick goal.
The Cheesemakers took a 4-0 lead 10 minutes into the second half, as McKenzie chipped a pass over the Vanguards defenders’ heads to Boll for a score.
Wisconsin Heights-Barneveld clawed its way back with two goals in the final 25 minutes.
Welch came out of the box to clear the ball, but her kick went right into the shins of an oncoming Vanguard. WHB would have had a clear shot at the goal, but defender Lilah Bauer pushed Mikayla Teela over to prevent the score. The play led to a PK goal that glanced off Welch’s finger tips. Jocelyn Barbender then scored in the 36th minute.
