Wildcats Whip Wayland

On a day when the world was charged with the grandeur of spring, the University School girls soccer team traveled to Beaver Dam to play Wayland Academy in a Midwest Classic Conference North game.  The Wildcats returned through the mild evening air with a 5-0 victory.

USM’s head coach Patrick Flanagan constantly urges his players to score early, thereby pressuring their opponents with doubts. The Wildcats heeded their coach’s advice Wednesday, scoring twice in the first twenty minutes.

The first goal came at 7:15.  Freshman Kate Nosbusch gained control of the ball on the right side near midfield.  Like a knife slicing through watermelon on the Fourth of July, Nosbusch raced down the sideline, cut in, and headed toward the net.  She gunned a shot past Wayland’s starting goalie Leah Wahl from about 15 yards out to give USM the lead.

The Wildcats scored again on another good run.  Sophomore defensive wing Catherine Jacobus took the ball away from a Wayland forward and ran down the left side with it deep into the Big Red’s territory.  She angled toward the penalty area and touched the ball to freshman Grace Florsheim.  Like a skilled craftsman with a finishing hammer, Florsheim softly tapped the ball along the ground and into the net to complete the scoring play at 19:35.  Flanagan was pleased with the play.  He told the USM players, “See, you don’t always have to blast the ball.  Sometimes just a quick touch like you’re making a ten-yard pass is more effective.”

USM scored a third goal later in the half on a brilliant give-and-go play.  Senior Erika Hurth trapped a ball on the sideline near midfield, passed it inside to freshman Amber Baker, and took off down the line.  Baker calmly sent the ball into space ahead of her speedy teammate.  Hurth collected the ball, wheeled past a defender, and bulleted a shot into Wayland’s net at 24:27.

The Wildcats scored two more goals in the second half.  The first came at 48:43.  Once again Hurth started the play.  She gained control of the ball on the sideline near midfield and centered it to senior Jenna Seter.  Seter took off with it.  As she closed to within 20 yards, Seter drove her shot high over the outstretched hands of Wayland’s second goalie, Ryan Wilkie, who had entered the game at halftime.

USM’s final goal came midway through the second half.  Hurth took a corner kick and sent the ball into the goalie area.  During a scramble for the ball, freshman Margaret Bodalski touched it to Baker who turned and knocked the ball across the goal line to make the score 5-0 at 58:21.

In the game Wahl made 10 saves and Wilkie made 4 saves for a total of 14 saves by Wayland’s goalies.  Freshman Merrill Read, USM’s starting goalie, made 3 first half saves.  Her replacement, senior Emily Hendrickson, made one save in the second half, giving USM a total of 4 saves.

Wayland is now 1-6 overall and in the conference.  The victory improved USM’s record to 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the conference.  Coupled with Dominican High School’s 1-0 victory over previously undefeated Lake Country Lutheran, USM’s win over Wayland propelled the Wildcats into a tie for the conference lead.  The Wildcats take time off from conference concerns on Friday.  They play a non-conference game against Sussex Hamilton at 7:00 p.m. at Hamilton High School.