USM Soccer Team Wins Again

The boys soccer team won its one - and ultimately, only game - in the Big Foot Tournament at Big Foot High School Saturday. The Wildcats defeated DeForest, a Division 1 team, 1-0 in the tournament, which was besotted with rain and thunderstorms. The remaining games of the tournament were consequently cancelled.

During the game, USM head coach Jason Rienzi told the Wildcats to “play one or two touches and then put the ball into dangerous areas” since the Big Foot field was small and the tournament halves were short, just 25 minutes.

“It’s not the best soccer, it’s like kickball at times, but we need to send it deep into their corners,” he said.

Seniors Charlie Kies and Ian McKinney, and sophomores Brent Mackman, Jason Seter, Ben Zwief, and Nelson Kies played sound defense and moved the ball effectively away from the USM goal.

“The defense played well today. They made it easy for me,” USM’s sophomore goalkeeper, Jack Wells said. Wells made five saves in the game; only one or two were challenging.

The USM midfielders, junior Robbie Schmidt, and sophomores Isaac Schlenker, Nico Dermond and Sam Bernstein kept the ball to the sides and sent it deep, especially after Rienzi’s talk. Their play allowed USM’s forwards, senior Josh Baker and junior Spencer Haas, to get to the ball. USM got off 11 shots, and the Norskies’ senior goalie Matt Walczak made four saves during the game, including two leaping saves to keep the ball from going under the cross bar.

One of the Wildcats’ shot did make it under the cross bar, however. On a corner kick, Schlenker sent the ball through the air toward the Norskies’ net. Positioned right in front of the DeForest goalie, Zwief leaped up like he was attempting to scratch the ear of a giraffe and headed the ball into the upper left corner at the 16:37 mark.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Zwief said. “Isaac hit it pretty good and put it into the box. I went up and got it.” 

Schlenker echoed Zwief in his comments on the play, “All I did was to do what I’m supposed to do - get it into the box. Ben was there to put it in.”

The victory gave USM a 5-1-2 record. The Wildcats play their Homecoming game at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday when they face St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy.