MILWAUKEE — The anticipated reality was that the Holmen High School girls soccer team was only going to get a couple of good chances to score in its WIAA Division 2 state semifinal against Brookfield Central on Thursday.
The pressure on the Vikings was going to be primarily on their back line and goalkeeper Moira Linse.
And it took a perfect bounce off a corner kick in the 98th minute for top-seeded Brookfield Central to emerge with a 1-0 overtime victory and berth in Saturday’s championship game at the Uihlein Soccer Complex in Milwaukee.
The Lancers (13-4), who have won seven state championships and are making their 16th state appearance this weekend, didn’t score until their 21st shot and advanced when Mia Soung dropped a corner kick in front of the goal, where Stella Wien headed it to the ground, and Bella Perez booted it to the left corner of the goal at 97 minutes, 14 seconds.
“It’s what I would call slop in the box,” Holmen coach Nick Schellenger said of the first goal his team allowed since May 2. “It’s bouncing around, and someone gets some part of their body on it, and it goes in.”
The goal provided a tough ending to a phenomenal performance from a team making its first state appearance.
The fourth-seeded Vikings (18-4-1) nearly pushed the Lancers to penalty kicks after 90 scoreless minutes was followed by the second 10 minutes of overtime.
Holmen threatened to make its first attempt in a shootout its first shot at the goal but never got there. Offensive opportunities were few and far between, and Brookfield Central held the Vikings without a shot to take the first necessary step to defending the Division 2 championship it won a year ago.
The Lancers will play second-seeded Wauwatosa East in the title game at 11 a.m. Friday.
The scramble in front of the net came on Brookfield Central’s 15th corner kick, and it simply led to a deflection where Linse wasn’t for the first time.
Perez tucked the ball just inside the left post for her second goal of the season.
“It was a good goal,” said Linse, who was credited with nine saves. “It just came at a tough time for us.
“I felt it go under me.”
The Vikings weren’t able to create an opportunity over the final 2:46, but that was a theme in the game. The Lancers held a 21-0 advantage in shots and won the battle for corner kicks 15-0.
“We came ready to play,” Schellenger said. “We knew we wouldn’t have the ball, and we were ready for that. That didn’t bother us.
“We said we were going to go out there and protect our goal. We didn’t sit 11 behind the ball, we went out there and played, and Brookfield Central has a fantastic squad and is very technically sophisticated.”
That sophistication wasn’t too much for Holmen’s back line and Linse to handle, though. The Vikings seemed to frustrate the Lancers early even if that didn’t slow down the attack that was administered.
Linse punched a couple of shots over the goal and saved a late direct kick from just outside the box after a Holmen foul.
“Moira, she kept us in it,” senior defender Morgan Potaracke said. “The most incredible keeper I have ever met in my life.”
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