CEDARBURG 鈥 The Cedarburg girls soccer team has become road warriors recently and continued that trend last week with a game Thursday at Plymouth followed by a weekend in La Crosse in which the Bulldogs played a pair of neutral site matches.
Despite that and a slate of tough opponents, Cedarburg has posted a record of 5-2-1 overall.
"I went heavy. We only have one non-ranked nonconference scheduled opponent. I really wanted to test us this year," Cedarburg head coach Robert Williams said. "I thought we would have a pretty good team returning and I wanted to test that team. I didn鈥檛 want to make things easier for us, I wanted to make sure we were battle tested as we got along in the season."
Oddly enough, the Bulldogs opened the season with a victory at home, a 4-1 decision over D.C. Everest on April 6, and have not been back to the Snake Pit since. While the team has not played on the home turf, the club has been busy, playing four games last week after having three matches the week before that, including a 2-0 victory April 19 over DSHA.
Williams said that was a big win for his club, but noted that it came with one negative consequence heading into a 4-0 victory last Tuesday at Slinger.
"It was definitely a good way to start it (the week). We were coming off the DSHA win the previous week and we had probably our worst night of training that Monday," the veteran coach said in regard to beating the Owls and the practice that preceded it. "I still thought we had moments in that Slinger game that we could have played a little bit better."
However, the Bulldogs built a 2-0 lead in the North Shore Conference clash before the Owls threatened to make things interesting. That proved to be short-lived, as Cedarburg regained its bearings and netted two more goals to pull away for the win.
"We were on the ropes for a little bit when it was 2-0, where it looked like Slinger could get one and make it a different game," Williams said. "Then we just popped another goal in and then we find another one and make it a comfortable game."
Joie Carpenter netted two goals in the contest.
"She's finishing, which is what we need from her," Williams said. "We鈥檝e got some players that can create chances for Joie. I think Peyton (Wetzel) assisted on one of Joie鈥檚 goals, we鈥檝e got Kate Vanden Berg, Courtney (Van Ermen). We have some players around Joie that create great chances for Joie. Credit to Joie, when she鈥檚 getting those chances, she finishes."
Cedarburg then traveled to Plymouth on Thursday. The Bulldogs dropped a 4-0 decision in that match, but Williams felt the score was not an accurate reflection of the difference between the squads.
"Everybody鈥檚 like, 鈥極h my God, we lost 4-0,鈥 but I don鈥檛 know if it was a 4-0 game. For a good portion we knocked the ball around and when we got into their final third, we just couldn鈥檛 finish," he explained. "We made three mistakes and they punished us for them."
The coach added that the outcome boiled down to not being able to finish off runs with a goal, while the Panthers were able to take advantage when a scoring opportunity presented itself.
鈥淲e knew coming in that they were going to be a tough side. We knew it. I just thought that our inability to put balls in the back of the net (hurt us). I thought there was a 20, 25 minute stretch where we knocked balls around, we kept possession, we put balls on frame or over the frame,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淚t was just three mistakes that we usually do not make in games and against a good, good team, if you make those mistakes, they will punish you, and we got punished for three mistakes. Rightfully so.
鈥淚 thought we had a good gameplan for them, but sometimes in games mistakes happen and they capitalized on them.鈥
Cedarburg then hit the road Friday and took on Eau Claire Memorial in a game played in La Crosse. The Bulldogs were in control of the action for much of the match and went on to earn a 1-0 victory.
鈥淚t was one of those games where I felt like, 鈥極K, it鈥檚 coming.鈥 They played a high offside trap and I felt like we knocked it around,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 like we weren鈥檛 having chances. I thought if we could get in at halftime either being up or at 0-0, we could figure some things out and then make an adjustment and kind of get it.
鈥淚 knew a goal was coming, I just didn鈥檛 know it would take that long,鈥 he added. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got high IQ midfielders, so I knew they would figure it out.鈥
Nadia Epshteyn broke through and recorded the game-winning goal in the 65th minute.
鈥淣adia was able to figure out that their keeper likes to play off the line and was able to get a high ball that their keeper wasn鈥檛 able to react to,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淓ven though it was a great goal, I felt like we had better opportunities that we just didn鈥檛 put away.鈥
Cedarburg was back in action Saturday, taking on Verona. The Bulldogs came out of the contest with a 1-0 loss, but Williams felt his team adjusted to what the Wildcats were doing and played well enough to win.
鈥淰erona played a 3-5-2 and it鈥檚 something that we really haven鈥檛 seen in quite a long time,鈥 he said. 鈥淏eing able to adapt to it, we talked a little bit about how to play it prior to and our game plan was pretty good. I thought our girls picked up on it pretty well. We had a couple chances to finish going against the wind and we didn鈥檛. We made a mistake where a ball was deflected and a girl just happened to be there to finish it. The rest of the game, we just were chasing it and just couldn鈥檛 finish it.鈥
Williams said that the trip was a good experience and that the benefits will carry over onto the field.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to see the players interact with each other, interact with staff, I interact with them, when it鈥檚 not soccer related,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t gives us a chance to play teams that we don鈥檛 play. I love playing in La Crosse. The facilities are fantastic.
鈥淚 feel like it helps strengthen our bond as a team,鈥 Williams added. 鈥淯sually when we come back, we come back a different squad from what we headed up there as.鈥
The Bulldogs return ready to face another big week. That starts today with a 7 p.m. showdown at NSC rival Nicolet. After that, Cedarburg will host Port Washington at 7 p.m. Thursday and challenge Wauwatosa West at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Knights are the focus for Williams, as Nicolet is next on the schedule.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough game for us, always. They鈥檙e up to play for us and we鈥檝e got to figure that out,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 place high emphasis on conference and sectional games. Anything else is learning experiences, how can we get better from it, how can we compete.鈥