MONROE — The Cheesemakers recently changed up their formation, moving to a more defensive-minded set. One less attacker will result in fewer goals for Monroe, said coach Matt Bodeau, but will mean fewer goals allowed as well.
Such was the case in the team’s recent 5-0 loss to Milton on Sept. 6.
“The guys liked the formation we played tonight. We told them it would be a little bit more lower scoring, but we do have a few new attacking threats now, too,” Bodeau said.
By dropping to a 5-4-1, the extra defender means slowing down the opponents breakaways and finding open space. While diminishing the number of forwards up front for the offense, the 5-4-1 can also set up a quick-strike counterattack. Bodeau said his players just have to work out a few kinks and timing mechanisms, and that could help turn things around this season. Monroe is 0-6 to start the year, including an 0-2 mark in the Badger West.
“What we need to do is maybe hold the ball as we transition to our midfielders more fully and more quickly, instead of trying to send the ball from our defense to our striker and just have him try to run against their whole back line,” Bodeau said.
The Cheesemakers also played at home against Madison Edgewood (2-2, 0-1) on Sept. 8, and have three games in five days next week: vs. Platteville-Lancaster (0-1-1) Sept. 12, at Reedsburg (2-4, 0-1) Sept. 13, and at Fort Atkinson (2-1-1) Sept. 16.
“Those 3-game weeks can be a bit much. Two games is ideal for me,” Bodeau said. After having seven of their first eight games at home, the Cheesemakers will be on the road for seven of their final 10 games.
In the loss to Milton (4-0), the Red Hawks scored late in the 17th minute to go up 1-0 and had a goal disallowed a few minutes later on an offside call.
It looked like the two teams would go into half separated by just one goal, but a defensive clearing by Monroe didn’t stand, as Milton won a 50/50 first touch and quickly ran behind Monroe’s back line. Deegan Riley then put the ball in the back of the net for the second time on the night, making it 2-0 Milton with just 33 seconds left until halftime.
“The only two breakdowns we had in the first half, Milton was able to capitalize on them. They play a nice cross,” Bodeau said. “The final goal at the end of the half was a really good overlap where one of their midfielders had a great first half touch and he was able to play to a short pass on the run off of his hip. That took him through defensive line.”
In the second half, the Red Hawks were a bit more aggressive on offense, and despite a series of valiant efforts by Monroe keeper Hudson, the Cheesemakers allowed goals in the 48th and 64th minutes to fall behind 4-0. Milton scored a final goal in the 76th minute against a lineup of mostly Monroe reserves, including at keeper.
“The last 15-20 minutes we had our keeper out, and by the end we had every starter out. That last goal was basically against our JV. I’m pretty happy with that,” Bodeau said. “There were a lot of positive things to see from the younger players. The comments they make, their talk and support of each other on the sidelines.”
Bodeau said that moving forward, he likes what his team is presenting. There are players returning to the lineup that have missed the first few weeks of the season, plus some new faces getting added to the roster now that school is back in session, which should help with depth
“We got Freddy Reyes back, he’s a senior that’s not been with the team this season yet, and we also got Nestor Chagoya out to help with the JV,” Bodeau said.
One player that has impressed Bodeau has been freshman Jaden Leistiko.
“He’s played Rebels soccer before, but he just kind of chose to come out this year and play with some friends, like Trent Wyss. He just wanted to try it out,” Bodeau said, “and I haven’t seen a lot of people improve that quickly or want to improve that bad. He’s been playing varsity minutes as a freshman, and I’ve been using him as an example for our seniors. It’s just cool to see coachable players like that, that just want to work that hard.
