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WIAA girls soccer: Shootout goes against McFarland (with photo gallery)

Todd D. Milewski  —  6/06/2008 8:53 pm

MILWAUKEE -- Matched up against the team that emphatically defeated it in the state championship game last season, the McFarland girls soccer team wanted nothing more than to give Waukesha Catholic Memorial a better game Friday.

The Spartans did that tenfold, and that fact had to make the walk off the Uihlein Soccer Park field after a shootout loss in a WIAA Division 2 state semifinal game all the more excruciating.

McFarland could claim dominance in parts of a 0-0 tie, but it fell short in a shootout that determined which team would advance to Saturday's title game.

Catholic Memorial goalkeeper Allison Prosen stopped two of five shots in the penalty kick finale, giving the Crusaders a 4-3 win.

It was a dramatic change from a 4-1 Catholic Memorial victory in the 2007 title game that wasn't as close as the scoreline indicated.

"We looked like chickens with our heads cut off last year, but that was then," Spartans senior captain Lana Fox said. "(Friday,) we were just passing the ball, moving it around, keeping possession. I think we definitely played a better game."

Fox was able to go a little further.

"We played an awesome game," she said. "We definitely took it to them. It's too bad we couldn't finish a goal."

McFarland (14-2-4) had its chances. Although it was outshot in the first half -- when it went into a strong south wind -- it wasn't short on dangerous opportunities.

And in the second half, when they had the wind at their backs, the Spartans were frequent visitors to the Catholic Memorial (25-2-2) penalty area.

Yet they didn't force Prosen to make a save until the 63rd minute, and they weren't able to pounce on rebounds when the Catholic Memorial senior keeper looked shaky on one-hop shots.

The teams gave the goalkeepers some hard work in a three-minute span late in the second half.

McFarland's closest chance was a Stephanie Ward shot in the 71st minute; Prosen had to stretch to get her fingertips on the ball.

The Spartans' Adrienne Rust jumped to tip a Amy Zelko free kick over the crossbar in the 74th minute.

Spartans coach Domenick Genova said he thought his team was in control of the game.

"I thought we passed really well, we kept possession really well," he said. "We got some through balls, some good passes that gave us opportunities, but we just weren't able to finish."

Catholic Memorial had two 1-on-1 chances with Rust during the second 10-minute overtime, but both shots went right at the keeper.

The shootout got off to an ominous start for McFarland when Prosen denied the first attempt, by Kelsey Beck. Prosen also stopped Jacie Jermier's shot.

Rust turned away Natalie Lechner's shot in the fourth round to keep McFarland alive, but freshman Angie Berens buried the Crusaders' final attempt past Rust for the win.

The McFarland senior goalkeeper said she didn't feel like her team lost Friday, but she felt the sting of the shootout result.

"I wish I could have helped my team out," Rust said, "because they really deserved to move on."

Catholic Memorial coach John Burke lauded Berens' effort in marking Spartans striker Sara Stern.

"She got free one time in 100 minutes, and that was Angie Berens just being all over her all game," Burke said. "And then (she) turns around and makes the fifth shot to send us to the final. Angie will remember that game for a long time."

Burke might, too. He's not a fan of shootouts -- he said it may have been 14 years since he has been involved in one at the state level -- and he called them "the most brutal parts of this game."

"This Russian Roulette thing that makes one kid remember for the rest of her life that she missed, that (is why) I can't stand shootouts," Burke said.

The Spartans can't be fans of the format right now, either, but they were trying to look past it as they left the field Friday.

"I told the girls, be proud," Genova said. "They played well. We took it to them. We had many chances. That's just the way the game goes."

McFarland 0 -- 0
Waukesha Catholic Memorial 0 -- 0

Shootout: WCM 4 (Weas goal, Zelko goal, Ruekert goal, Lechner no goal, Berens goal), M 3 (K. Beck no goal, Stern goal, Fox goal, Jermier no goal, Alonso goal).

Saves: M (Rust) 9, WCM (Prosen) 6.

WIAA GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
At Uihlein Soccer Park, Milwaukee

Friday's Division 2 semifinal results
Waukesha Catholic Memorial 0, McFarland 0, Waukesha Catholic Memorial advances in shootout, 4-3
Appleton Xavier 3, Grafton 0

Friday's Division 3 semifinal results
Milwaukee University School 3, Palmyra-Eagle 0
New Holstein 2, Menasha St. Mary Central 1

Saturday's championship games
Division 3 -- Milwaukee University School vs. New Holstein, 10 a.m.
Division 2 -- Waukesha Catholic Memorial vs. Appleton Xavier, noon
Division 1, 2 p.m.

Todd D. Milewski  —  6/06/2008 8:53 pm