GALESVILLE — One significant weekend will be followed by another when the Holmen and Aquinas high school girls soccer teams compete at the WIAA state tournament.
The Vikings will line up against defending champion Brookfield Central in a Division 2 semifinal on Thursday, and the Blugolds meet The Prairie School in a Division 4 semifinal on Friday at the Uihlein Soccer Complex in Milwaukee.
Being there together is historical because it’s the first time the Coulee Region has had two state qualifiers.
“There are a lot of people over there in Milwaukee who treat us like outsiders,” Aquinas coach Doug Harpenau said of the MVC. “The coaching and building players up from the youth programs has been important to get where we are.
“If you can get kids to love the game, good things are going to happen.”
Holmen (18-3-1) has put together its first state appearance with a roster that has 14 sophomores and freshmen on it. Aquinas (15-3-1) has nine seniors as it makes its first appearance in nine years.
The Blugolds won a championship in 2015, but their seven sectional championships stood alone in representing the area until West Salem broke through in Division 3 last year.
And now Holmen joins the group to expand the area’s footprint in the biggest tournament of the year. Onalaska has also been knocking on the door for years, and Central was a regional champion this season.
“I think it speaks to what has happened the last 20 years in this community and this area in soccer,” Holmen coach Nick Schellenger said. “There have been a lot of people who have put in a lot of time to create programs and set up opportunities — you can see it with the two (youth) clubs coming together — with the goal being to provide the right soccer experience for everyone.”
Rush Wisconsin West and LX United combined youth programs and play their first games as one instead of two this season.
Youth programs all over are exploding — La Crescent-Hokah’s girls also qualified for the MSHSL state tournament in the fall — and that bodes well for continuing the current trend.
For Holmen, it is a successful grasp for a team that has reached double figures in wins three straight years and is two years removed from its first regional championship.
“This means everything,” Schellenger said after his team’s 1-0 victory over Sauk Prairie in Saturday’s sectional final. “This was a critical step because this group has incredible potential.
“For the program moving forward, now we are going to have young players who have that experience and understand how to play in that pressure, and it won’t be something new.”
