OCONOMOWOC 鈥 Four minutes, three goals and one Muskego soccer victory.
Anna Sikorski had two goals and an assist to lead two-time defending state champ Muskego to a 4-1 victory over Oconomowoc in a Classic 8 Conference girls soccer match Thursday evening.
Sikorski, the reigning state player of the year, put the Warriors on the board with an unassisted goal from the left side in the 24th minute. Sikorski scored on a penalty kick three minutes later to make it 2-0 and Ella Kandziora capped the three-goal flurry with an unassisted score in the 28th minute.
Eve Gricius brought Oconomowoc within 3-1 with an assist from Alexia Parmann five minutes into the second half.
But the Warriors answered in the 53rd minute when Sikorski fed Bella Mittelstaedt for the score.
鈥淚 thought we came out with good pressure,鈥 Muskego coach Lance Matthews said. 鈥淲e executed our game plan well in the first half. Just really kept our pressure on them and moved the ball well. They did a good job of kind of controlling and keeping us out for that first little bit, but once we broke through, it was a boost of confidence.鈥
Muskego, ranked second in Division 1 in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association, improved to 4-1-0 in the Classic 8 and 6-1-2 overall. Oconomowoc dropped to 1-2-1 in conference and 4-4-2 overall.
鈥淎 couple big mistakes on our part,鈥 Oconomowoc coach Michael Beatty said. 鈥淚 look at it as every goal was started by one of our players. If you clean those up, who knows? But they definitely had the possession.鈥
The Warriors dropped their season opener 4-3 to undefeated Arrowhead, ranked No. 1 in Division 1. Muskego then tied Whitefish Bay, the top-ranked team in Division 2, and tied Waunakee, ranked third in Division 1.
Since then, Muskego has won six straight with the three victories before Thursday night coming via shutout.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of new players on the team this year,鈥 Sikorski said. 鈥淲e lost a lot of our valuable players from last year. We started off a little slowly, I think we were a little frustrated, but we kind of got our groove back, and figured out formation and how to play with each other.鈥
Muskego set the tone early with possession, position and pressure, getting three shots on goal before Sikorski finally found the back of the net.
鈥淭hey do a fantastic job of passing,鈥 Beatty said. 鈥淎nd when you possess the ball, you control the game. And they did a fantastic job of possessing the ball and it makes it very tough to play against because you鈥檙e chasing.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 not there, they recycle, they swing it around. It鈥檚 watching a top team play. And that鈥檚 what you get. We鈥檙e glad we get to play them every single year. It鈥檚 tough, but we鈥檙e glad we play them. It makes us better.鈥
Despite playing uphill after the three-goal outburst, Beatty was proud of his team鈥檚 effort.
鈥淓ve Gricius had a great match tonight, putting a goal in, and Alexia Parmann had the assist on that,鈥 Beatty said. 鈥淎nd Maria Jorgensen, Anna Small and Eliza Mitich all played very well.鈥
