Onalaska High School girls soccer coach Tyler Ludeking is grateful for the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals taking place this week.
It gives him something to discuss with friend and Central coach Joe Czerniak as their teams prepare to play each other in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal at Logan’s Swanson Field on Thursday night.
“He is one of my best friends,” Ludeking said of Czerniak. “We talk daily via text or whatever. This week’s a little different, though.
“We’re not talking a lot of soccer this week.”
But both are talking plenty of soccer with their players as they try to take a step toward a possible berth in the state tournament next week in Milwaukee. Either the top-seeded RiverHawks (12-4-2) or Hilltoppers (12-5-1) will play Saturday afternoon against either River Falls (11-6-2) or New Richmond (12-8) in Arcadia for that spot in the state bracket.
They will first complete their season series after a 1-1 tie on May 1 and a 3-1 Central victory on May 29. The win was the RiverHawks’ first over the Hilltoppers since 2012.
Central will try to make it two in a row over Onalaska with the help of a defense that has 11 shutouts and has allowed nine goals. Just West Salem and Holmen have been able to score twice against the RiverHawks.
“You’ve got such a good group of athletes and a dangerous scorer in Grace (Wilkerson),” Ludeking said of Central. “They certainly scare you, no doubt about it.”
But the Hilltoppers also have recent dominance on their side. The RiverHawks were thrilled to beat them this season, but they also understand how difficult that is to do.
“There’s a good rivalry between Onalaska and us,” Central senior midfielder Avery Bosshard said. “We know those girls, and they know us, and it’s fun to play against them.
“The games are close, and we beat them last time, so we have to bring some energy.”
Bosshard complimented Onalaska’s play in the middle, its offense and ability to defend against longer shots toward the goal.
The Hilltoppers have also benefitted from regular improvement from freshman goalkeeper Avery Cowley, who wasn’t in Ludeking’s plans until showing interest in playing before the season.
“She hadn’t played goalie since she was in youth soccer,” Ludeking said. “Avery has no club experience, but she randomly called me this winter and said she thought she wanted to play goalie.
“She has the competitiveness and athletic ability that it takes, so she’s been working on figuring out what playing goalie is. Some of the things we knew she’d need were there, like someone who can naturally make a dive to save a ball.”
Onalaska has won nine games by shutout and allowed four goals over its past four games — three of those in the loss to Central.
The Hilltoppers have also enjoyed a balanced offense with consistent goal-scoring from Finley Walters, Natalie Tevis, Isabella Cromheecke and others.
“They have a very strong central midfield, and Finley is very dynamic and dangerous on the outside,” Czerniak said. “She can finish goals and is very athletic.
“We have to do a good job of preventing services and really clearing the ball out, not giving them second and third opportunities
DIVISION 3
West Salem didn’t finish the season ranked by state coaches, but it won the outright MVC championship and takes a nice string of performances into its sectional semifinal against visiting and third-seeded Baldwin-Woodville (14-2) as a No. 1 seed.
The Panthers (14-3-1) are trying to qualify for Saturday’s final against either fourth-seeded Waupaca or third-seeded Ashland (11-11-1) at Medford. The fact that West Salem gave the area two No. 1 seeds — along with Central — mat show that the area is earning more respect in the sport.
“I think it’s like a huge badge of honor,” West Salem coach Lionel Karyea said of the fact that three area teams were ranked at some point in the season and that four MVC teams won regional titles this spring. “The sport is growing here, and all of these teams are playing good right now.”
The Panthers beat B-W in last year’s tournament, and both teams return plenty of those players. Karyea said that puts the Blackhawks in a revenge-seeking position after winning its past five games by a combined score of 21-0.
“They have a very good team,” Karyea said. “They lost to Superior (2-0) and to a Rice Lake team (2-1) in the last minute. Then they came back in their last game and beat (Rice Lake) 3-0.
“We were fortunate to beat them in a regional final last year. It feels like they are on a mission, but we also feel like we let one slip away last year (in a regional loss to Rice Lake), so we want to make it right.”
The Blackhawks have allowed seven goals this season as they match up with a West Salem team that has scored 18 in its past two games.
“We’re going into it thinking like we’ve played teams similar to them,” senior Kayla Olson said. “But just because we’ve won against these teams doesn’t mean anything for this game.
“We might see something that we haven’t seen yet, so we have to keep the active mindset of how do we adjust.”
DIVISION 4
Aquinas (15-3-2), which is ranked third by state coaches and seeded third in its bracket, plays at top-seeded Wisconsin Rapids Assumption (14-3-1), which is ranked ninth in the state.
The Blugolds advanced with a 1-0 win over second-seeded River Valley in the reginal finals and are trying to advance to the sectional final against either top-seeded Washburn (14-1-1) or third-seeded Eau Claire Regis/Chippewa Falls McDonell (13-8) on Saturday.
Washburn is ranked fifth in the state.
Aquinas has succeeded with a stingy defense and has allowed more than one goal just twice this season. It has allowed one goal in its past nine games and shut out both postseason opponents.
Assumption enters the game with eight straight shutouts and opened the season with a 1-1 tie against River Valley. It also beat Adams-Friendship — a team the Blugolds beat 1-0 in a regional semifinal — 5-1 and 10-0 earlier this season and swept two games from Regis/McDonell by a combined score of 6-1.
