MONROE — The Cheesemakers lost a pair of games to Wisconsin Heights-Barneveld and fourth-ranked Mount Horeb on back-to-back nights, Sept. 20-21.
The Vanguards took a 1-0 lead in the first half and held Monroe at bay through much of the second half before scoring in the final 10 minutes to seal the victory.
The very next night, Mount Horeb ended the game in the 69th minute with a mercy-rule 11-1 thrashing of a not-yet-full-strength Cheesemakers squad.
“One thing I am still looking forward to is that we have yet to arrive to a game with our entire team available to suit up and play. I’m hoping here at the end of the season we will be able to arrive and play a few of those games, and they should look very different in the record books,” Monroe coach Matt Bodeau said.
“We had three players that would have been starting that weren’t available for (Heights). That is going to take some tolls,” Bodeau said.
A handful of junior varsity players stepped in, and played well, Bodeau said. “They all played phenomenally in the positions I put them in, and that were out of their comfort zone. I had low expectations going out there and tried to keep it simple. They played very well with minimal instructions.”
Alex Torres scored Monroe’s lone goal against Mount Horeb. All year he has had the eyes of defenders (and spectators) on him, as he dazzles defenses with this footwork, precision passing and deft shooting ability. Heights players struggled to keep up with the speedster, but time after time a second defender — or the keeper — was able to get into the way.
“No player can play at 110% pace and try to carry the team for more than one game,” Bodeau said, emphasizing his team’s need for depth and health.
With the Mount Horeb game aside, the Cheesemakers had played good ball on the pitch ever since a 7-0 loss to Edgewood Sept. 9.
The reserves communicated well with each other and worked hard off the ball, traits that Bodeau said were a positive moving forward.
The Cheesemakers were scheduled to take on Sauk Prairie Sept. 24, then host Cambridge-Deerfield Sept. 27 before traveling to Stoughton Sept. 28 and Oregon Sept. 30.
