So, it’s time to get caught up. The State tournament has been completed and we need to congratulate Verona for winning then D1 tournament. Let’s take a look at the Semi-Finals and Finals results.
State Tournament Recap
Semi-Finals Verona vs. Kenosha Tremper. Verona was in control and found the net via three different players in a comfortable 3-0 win. They out shot Kenosha 25-7 and had 9 corner kicks to 3. A 1-0 lead at half extend to a 3-0 win and a trip to the finals.
Semi-Finals Neenah vs. EC Memorial. The stats in this game don’t really tell the story. If I told you the shots on goal were 9-9 and the corner kicks were 4-3, then you would surmise it was a really close game, likely OT or PK’s needed to decide it. Unfortunately for Memorial, that wasn’t the case. Two goals with a Nasr assist and Priest goal led Neenah . Priest is rumored to be headed to Marquette to play D1 soccer next year. A pretty impressive talent for sure. Memorial scored late but it was not meant to be. Neenah was efficient and clinical in their finishing and advanced to the state finals against Verona. Congrats to Memorial on a great season and advancing to state. It’s quite an accomplishment. They have a ton of returning players and will reload for another run. Thank you to all the seniors for giving their best to Old Abe soccer. We will miss you. Thank You Scott Knowlton, Logan Junker, Ethan Pawlak, Ashton Johnson, Evan Smith, Jacob Peloquin, Will Hartman, Lu Shi Xiong, and Luke Rosenberger. An impressive group of young men, a few of whom will go on to play college soccer. We wish them the best. My lasting EC Memorial memory of this year. Sectional Champs.
D1 State Finals Verona vs. Neenah. Verona completed their championship in I think their first ever visit to the State Tournament. An efficient 2-0 win, scoring a goal in each half. The stats reflect a pretty solid win and a game where they were in control. Shots favored Verona 19-5 and corner kicks favored Verona 9-3. Two solid wins at the tournament crown them the champs.
D2 Recap. New Richmond was knocked out in the Semi-Finals, losing to Brookfield East 4-1. Brookfield Central defeated Brookfield East in the championship game. It was tied 1-1 after regulation and the stayed 1-1 after OT. An epic PK shootout ensued with Brookfield Central escaping with an 8-7 victory and a State Championship. What a way to win….the celebration likely was pretty awesome. 8-7 PK….wow!
D3 Recap. Rice Lake also lost in the semi-finals 7-2 to McFarland. McFarland took on Shorewood in the finals and Shorewood prevailed 2-1 to win for their second state tournament title.
D4 Recap. Sturgeon Bay secured the state title with a 2-1 win over The Prairie School. It was Sturgeon Bay’s second title and they defeated perennial favorite, The Prairie School with 5 state titles to their credit.
USWNT Names New Head Coach
A new era for the USWNT has begun. Legendary coach Jill Ellis retired from the job coaching the US Women’s National Team and passed the torch to newly named head coach Vlatko Andonovski. A little quick review of Jill Ellis and her career.
Played college soccer at William & Mary from 1984-1987.
Assistant Coach at NC State, Maryland and Virginia
Head Coach at Illinois and UCLA
USWT Coach for U21 and U20 National Teams before being named Interim coach of the USWNT and then officially head coach from 2014-2019. Her record of 106-19-7 is pretty impressive. As well, she is the back to back winner of the 2015 and 2019 World Cupsa, only the seocnd coach to do that I am told. An impressive resume for sure. But now we move on to a new era and a new coach.
Vlatko Andonovski played professional in lower level European leagues, played in the US in the NPSL and MISL, lower level professional leagues in the US. He moved into coaching and was in charge of the FC Kansas City and Rein FC teams from the National Womens Soccer League. In addition to being named Coach of the Year in 2013, he won two league titles in 2014 and 2015. He is well respected and knows soccer and the women’s game from years of coaching in the NWSL. He also understands the player pool well and is well positioned to bring in the next wave of USWNT players. He is off an running with two wins in two to start his career, a solid 3-2 win over talented Sweden and a strong 6-0 win over Costa Rica.
MLS Cup Results
The MLS season came to a close this past weekend with the MLS Cup between the Seattle Sounders and the Toronto FC. It was a bit of a surprise final with Seattle being a #2 seed of 8 in the West and Toronto being a #4 seed in the East. Seattle upsetting the top seed LAFC in the semi-finals while Toronto getting past both the #1 and #2 seeds along the way, NYCFC and Atlanta United. Quite a path to the finals.
Toronto could not keep their run going though, losing to a strong game from Seattle. Three second half goals provided Seattle all the room they needed in a dominating second half. A stoppage time goal for Toronto made it a bit more respectable. 3-1 in the finals.
Premier League Quick Update
Game of the Year- Liverpool vs. Manchester City. This past weekend marked the marquee match up of the season to date. Liverpool the early leader and Manchester City, last years champions but currently chasing Liverpool. The game was played at Anfield in Liverpool and the crowd was electric. Liverpool really dominated the game and was stunningly effective on the counter attack. Two really amazing goals jettisoned them to an early 2-0 lead and they never looked back. The Fabinho goal from 25 yards away was a rocket…an amazing strike. One of the best of the year for sure. As always in big games….a little bit of controversy. What could easily have been called a hand ball in Liverpool’s box that would have led to a PK for Manchester City was waived off and immediately Liverpool counter attacked and produced a moment of magic on the other end for a goal for Salah. Crazy. From no penalty to a goal in like 15 seconds. VAR reviewed and declared no penalty. Oh my. Kind of looked like a hand ball, but that’s a tough rule to interpret and the rules have changed on that recently….but it was not called a hand ball and Liverpool pounced! It went 3-0 until a late Manchester City goal salvaged a little respect. Liverpool extended their league lead to 8 points over second and 9 points over 4th place Manchester City. It’s Liverpool’s title to win.
Chelsea’s Pulisic Scores Again
Captain America, the USMNT’s best player…in my opinion….and the great hope of American soccer, Christian Pulisic was at it again this past weekend. He notched his 5th goal of the season and helped Chelsea to a much needed win against Crystal Palace moving up to 3rd in the table. He has now recorded 5 goals and 5 assists on the year, one of only a handful of players to do so this year. Pretty impressive. The only bummer, he injured his hip on the play and had to back out of a couple of important games for the National Team. He will be missed as he is playing a a really high level the past month.
The Premier League is off for a few weeks on the international break, MLS is completed, so look for an update on Champions League later this weekend.
Hope these updates can keep you covered until then!