Despite bringing in nine new players, the Verona women's soccer team showed its talent in the first week of the season.
Verona sophomore Caitlin Bruce pushes the ball up the field and beats Mikayla Holler of Mt. Horeb in a nonconference game Monday, April 8, at Verona Area Soccer Stadium.
Verona (1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw) had a big shot advantage in the match played at the Verona Area Soccer Stadium on Monday, April 8, but was tied 0-0 with Mount Horeb. The Wildcats defeated Waukesha West 7-1 on Saturday, April 6, in Verona. The Wildcats opened the season with a 7-1 loss to Kimberly on Friday, April 5, in Verona.
More than half of the team are new players. Verona advanced to the WIAA Division 1 sectional championship last year, but lost 1-0 to Kettle Moraine. Despite being a young team, Verona has the same goals.
“The bar is high,” junior right outside midfielder Airey Duffy said. “That (state) is always our goal. We have a high bar and I think that makes us work harder as a team. You can't get there with one player. There. To get there, we have to work together as a team.”
The only two games the Wildcats lost last year were to Division 1 state champion Muskego and state runner-up Kettle Moraine.
“This is our third game and we're getting better every time we're on the field,” Verona coach Jen Faulkner said. “That's what we want from our girls: be coachable and learn from their mistakes.”
Verona will play Kettle Moraine on Thursday, April 11th, followed by a road test at Oregon State on Saturday, April 13th at Huntoon Field.
“We have some really skilled returning players and new players,” Faulkner said. “They've never played together before. You saw that in the game against Kimberly. We hadn't been outside or on the grass all week and we'd never played together outside of the gym. We didn't have it, but it showed up. We made some adjustments on Saturday and it showed up.”
Verona 0, Mount Horeb 0
For Duffy, the missed opportunity in a scoreless nonconference game against Mount Horeb could be a valuable learning experience.
The Wildcats outscored the Vikings 14-1.
“I think his composure on the ball is huge,” Duffy said. “When we get into the final third, it's our first time there and we're nervous… We're learning how to play with each other, learning our skills and working as a team in the final third. I’m learning how to play and be successful.”
Verona senior forward Jiří Plesac hit a shot off the post in the 52nd minute. Just a minute later, Plesac's shot went over the crossbar.
Verona senior forward Jiří Plesac tries to fend off a Mount Horeb defender during the first half on Monday, April 8, at Verona Area Soccer Stadium.
At 61:19, Duffy appeared to score the go-ahead goal off a rebound from a corner kick. The referee overruled the goal because the Wildcats were ruled offside.
“I was so excited,” Duffy said. “I thought it was a goal. I realized it wasn't a goal, so my first thought was to get the next goal and move on. My goal was always to focus on the next ball and Just keep moving with the play.”
Duffy fired a shot at the far post, and Mount Horeb goalkeeper Addison Moel made a diving stop to keep the game scoreless.
“This team is very young, and what we get is I'm proud of all the girls who stepped up, whether they're new or haven't played varsity yet,” Duffy said. “I'm really proud of our team play that they're making. They have a big role. We're in this as a team. We lost a lot of guys. We win together and we lose, but unfortunately it's a draw today. We're going to come back tomorrow and keep moving forward.”
Verona freshman forward Noel Rauwolff had a shot bounce off the crossbar in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Tessa Poppen hit a shot off the post in the second half.
Verona senior goaltender Jojo Rosenfeld had one save in the shutout.
“I thought our girls did a good job of letting the ball do the work and getting in and out of space,” Faulkner said. “We controlled the tempo and pace. We created great opportunities. We just couldn't put the ball away. They have a great goalkeeper. , I’m very proud of the way we dictated the play.”
Verona 7, Waukesha West 1
Rauwolf scored four goals to power the Wildcats to a win over Waukesha West.
Verona freshman forward Noel Rauwolf makes a pass under pressure from Mount Horeb's Anya McKay.
After a scoreless first half, the Wildcats exploded in the second half scoring seven points. Plesac scored at 43:17 off an assist from Rauwolf. About a minute later, Duffy scored on an assist from sophomore midfielder Tessa Poppen. Rauwolf scored her first goal at 48:54 with an assist from sophomore defender Alexa Lupnow, giving Verona a 3-0 lead.
The Wolverines scored in the 52nd minute, and the Wildcats responded. Rauwolf scored three goals in 12 minutes. She scored her second goal of the game at 59:28, off a pass from Duffy. She completed her hat trick with a goal at 67:35, with an assist from Duffy. About four minutes later, Rauwolf scored his fourth goal of the game, extending the Wildcats' lead to 6-1.
The Wildcats scored at 77:24 when sophomore defender Kate Zak scored on a pass from Poppen. The Wildcats outscored the Wolverines 12-6. Rosenfeld made five saves.
Kimberly 7, Verona 1
Poppen scored Verona's only goal on a penalty kick in the 42nd minute of their opening game loss to Kimberley.
Kimberly outscored Verona 17-2. Rosenfeld made a game-high 10 saves. Kimberley's Emily McCarthy scored a hat-trick.
