The Green Bay Southwest girls soccer team has gone its first 14 matches this season without a loss. Now the Trojans are just looking for a few more wins.
They have a rather interesting 7-0-7 record entering one of their biggest weeks with showdowns against Pulaski on Tuesday and De Pere on Thursday.
Those seven tied scores come somewhat close to the combined total of the nine other teams in the Fox River Classic Conference, which stands at 12.
“In the regular season, we always tell the girls, especially at the beginning of the season, that we are more focused on just getting better every single day and improving as a team,” Southwest coach Tyler Thomas said. “Some of those results that ended in ties definitely helped us, pushing in the right direction to lock down some games later on in the season.”
Thomas can point to a tie against Appleton East on April 11, when Southwest led 1-0 but allowed a goal in the final seconds.
It will be a good reminder to the players in a tight match that they don’t have to rush to throw the ball in with 40 seconds remaining. Or when there is 20 seconds left not to try to beat someone one-on-one and instead kick the ball out of bounds.
Still, to not have a loss this late in the season is impressive. Southwest appears to have taken the momentum from its run to the WIAA Division 2 state title match last year and brought it into this one.
“It’s definitely something to be proud of to say after 14 games we’re still undefeated,” senior goalie Toni Champion said. “We obviously would like to have more of the ties be victories but that's the game of soccer. Sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce our way.”
The Trojans have all 11 starters back from their state team, giving them a lot of confidence that last season was just the start of a fun ride.
Senior forward Paige Pierce is coming off a junior campaign in which she was a first-team all-conference pick in the FRCC, but she has raised her game to another level in being the Trojans’ offensive catalyst.
Pierce leads the team in both goals (11) and assists (10), has scored two goals in a match four times and has registered at least one point in 71.4 percent of her team’s contests.
She also is quite resilient, whether it be coming back from a hamstring injury that slowed her at the beginning of the season or from a tough night at the office.
Pierce missed a penalty kick in a scoreless tie against Sheboygan South last week but came back a few nights later to score two goals and add an assist in a win over Manitowoc.
Pierce also is getting help, with four of her teammates registering at least five goals. The list includes sophomore Alexis Cumber (9 goals), senior Montana Thomas (6), senior Kaitlyn Schuurmans (5) and junior Amber Nolle (5).
“I think the girls came into the season with a lot of confidence,” Thomas said. “They put in a lot of work this offseason to continue to improve. I wouldn’t say that I’m shocked by the results. I think a lot of the girls expected it coming into the season and have very high expectations for themselves. They hold themselves to a high standard.”
Oh, and it also helps to still have Champion guarding the net and a solid defense in front of her.
Champion is allowing 0.68 goals per match and has an 87.7 save percentage. Of the eight goals she has allowed, the coaching staff might be able to look back at only one and say she could have perhaps done better.
“She has been fantastic,” Thomas said. “Especially in the big matches. I mean, the girl makes saves that are literally game-changing saves. Especially when the score is close like that. I think back to West De Pere, she had a couple big saves when the score was still 0-0. I look back to Notre Dame and she made some huge saves to keep the scoreline at 0-0.
“She just has that knack for making the big save.”
Southwest was the first girls soccer team from the four Green Bay public schools to reach a title match last season while also joining De Pere and Green Bay Notre Dame as the only area teams to play in one since the state tournament started in 1983.
Now it wants to get back to Milwaukee and become the first area school to win a championship.
“Having our whole starting lineup return from last year is something the team is beyond grateful for and we plan on taking advantage of,” Champion said. “It's definitely something we use as motivation this season, and helps that we all crave the gold ball over the silver this year.”
AREA RANKINGS
Girls soccer (standings via wissports)
1. Green Bay Notre Dame (10-1-1)
2. Green Bay Southwest (7-0-7)
3. Pulaski (9-2-1)
4. Bay Port (6-2-3)
5. Seymour (6-2-3)
CREDIT:
Green Bay Press Gazette - http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/high-school/all-usa/2016/05/09/all-usa-soccer-southwest-still-unbeaten/84134826/