HOLMEN — The players on the West Salem/Bangor ASL soccer team know what leads to success, and that is getting the ball to teammate Levi Wulf.
Wulf has played all over the court for the Panthers this season, but he was a focal point on the attack as they played Holmen for a tournament championship on Monday.
West Salem/Bangor played a fantastic all-around game against the Vikings, but Wulf’s four goals made the biggest noise in its 4-1 victory in a packed gym that included cheerleaders and a light show as the two top teams in the area battled at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse.
Wulf scored three goals in the first half and another in the second as the Panthers finished their season with a 9-1 record.
“It’s really, really hard to put into words,” West Salem/Bangor coach Ashly Serres said of the victory, which came in the Panthers’ first championship appearance. “They’ve worked so hard day in, day out, and the community support they received is giving me chills.
“This is so fun.”
Wulf scored his first goal just over 2 minutes into the game, and his second one came with 10 minutes, 32 seconds on the clock. He made it 3-0 with 1:15 left in the half and gave West Salem/Bangor complete control of the game.
“He’s a beast,” Serres said of Wulf. “He can go anywhere and play for us. What I love about him is that we’ve played hi on goal, on defense and on offense.
“He can score goals, and that’s great, but he’s a team player.”
Holmen (8-2) did its best to keep up, but goalkeeper Cam Arndt and defenders Emma Field, Bri Smith and Lexi Randall were having none of it.
All three of the defenders were able to steer the ball clear of the goal before it reached Arndt on several occasions, and Arndt was up to the challenge when the Vikings did sneak the ball through.
Arndt has had an amazing start to his ASL soccer career, and Randall has been an anchor in front of him.
“He came out and dominated, and I didn’t even really have to tell him what to do,” Serres said of Arndt, who withstood all but one Holmen shot on goal. “He’s doing such a great job, and I’m so excited for the future and for him to experience more.”
Holmen had a good chance to score early when West Salem/Bangor had its 2-0 lead. The Vikings got two shots off and were working on a third in about a 10-second span, but the first one went wide, and Arndt stopped the second.
As they set up the third, Randall poked the ball away and cleared the danger.
“Lexi was middle defense for most of the game,” Serres said. “She shuts down everybody, and it’s total domination.
“She’s got it down. She knows when to step in and when to step back and let it be.”
The Vikings got on the board when Kian Carlisle found some space to the right of the net and the right angle to beat Arndt for the first time. There was 14:20 left when he scored, and the West Salem/Bangor defense took care of things from there.
“It was intense, and there was a lot going on,” Serres said of the atmosphere. “I told them on the way here to not be intimidated. We knew it was going to be loud, and they just had to play through it.
“They did that, and I’m so proud of them.”
