Scoring the first and final goal of yesterday’s game against Whitefish Bay, Alex Lutz, senior, headed the ball into the goal in the second half, securing a 1-0 victory and an automatic conference championship for the girls varsity soccer team. The Highlanders were North Shore Conference champions last year as well, giving them back-to-back titles with this year’s win. 

Going into yesterday’s match-up, the girls held a three-point lead in the North Shore Conference. “If anyone is going to catch Homestead, they need the third-place Blue Dukes to spring an upset,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said in an article Monday. With the Blue Dukes’ failing to do so, the girls remain undefeated in conference play, with one conference game to go against Cedarburg. According to Coco Weincek, senior, even if the girls fall to Cedarburg, the conference title will still belong to the Highlanders, since Cedarburg lost to Germantown and Homestead already beat Germantown this season.

As shown by the close score, the win did not come easy for the Highlanders. Coach Tony Navarre, defense coordinator, decided to change the defense lineup at halftime, playing four defenders at a time instead of three. Additionally, going into the game, he moved Megan Hagerty, sophomore, to center defender, a position that Lauren Padgett, senior, usually plays. In turn, he moved Padgett to Hagerty’s usual spot of outside defender.

“Coach (Rich) Dorn (head coach), sent Coach Navarre to the stands to get a better look at Bay’s formation and based on where their forwards were and how far the outside mids pushed up he decided that we needed to drop someone else back for extra cover,” Padgett said. “It really helped us quickly shut down any offense that Bay generated and then counter ourselves which I think made the difference between winning and losing the game.”

For Hagerty, the transition to center defender was nerve-wracking, but worth it in the end. “It was super intimidating and stressful, but my teammates really helped me out by staying aggressive, allowing us to keep them from scoring.”

Additionally, with several minutes left, the Blue Dukes shot a goal that almost tied up the game. The shot ricocheted off the Highlanders’ goal post and hit a Whitefish Bay player’s hand before going into the goal, resulting in the sideline referee calling a handball. The referee in the middle of the field, however, called a goal, but because the sideline ref had a better view, the goal was deemed invalid, leaving the score at 1-0.

The girls will play Brookfield Central at home tonight. Although the Lancers are the second-ranked Division 1 team in the state, winning back-to-back conference championships has given the Highlanders a boost of confidence going into future games. “For [tonight], our goal is to play as hard as we possibly can,” Padgett said. “Brookfield Central is ranked number two in Division 1 so they are going to be tough competition but I think if we work together we can compete with them. Winning conference makes me optimistic and confident in our abilities to move forward onto the state tournament and hopefully get the opportunity to play for that state title.”

Gallery • 6 Photos

Molly Ryan

Kristen Gebhardt, senior, runs down the field in a gam earlier this season.