Whitefish Bay overwhelms
The official statistical sheets from the WIAA boys state soccer tournament gave a brief synopsis of each goal, and when Jackson Dryden scored to give Whitefish Bay a 3-0 lead Thursday afternoon in the Division 2 state semifinal, the official scorekeeper kept it simple. “Beautiful soccer.” The same can be said for the Blue Dukes all season.
Dryden’s goal came in the 31st minute, but it already felt like a knockout blow as Bay (24-0) advanced to Saturday’s state final at Uihlein Soccer Park with a 5-0 win over New Richmond. The Blue Dukes are in pursuit of a third consecutive state championship. They will face Oregon for the Division 2 title at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The "beautiful" goal came when Matthew Comiskey took possession of a misplayed header near midfield and shuttled a pass to Jimmy Zebell, who glided up the left sideline and delivered a cross across the box to Dryfinal).” den, who cashed it in for the big lead.
“We’ve only been down one time this year, so getting the first goal is the first priority, obviously,” Dryden said. “We can then attack downhill right away and get into the flow of our game.”
By then, the Dukes were in control against a New Richmond (18-8-1) squad making its second straight appearance at state and second ever in school history. The Tigers fell to Elkhorn in last year’s state semifinal.
Bay outshot New Richmond, 37-5, and did not yield a corner kick while taking 12.
Bay recorded its 17th shutout of the season and has outscored foes in the postseason, 31-1. The score held at 3-0 for much of the second half before Jeremy Haddock added a goal in the 74th minute, and Dryden finished off a penalty kick 50 seconds later.
“We’re solid at all positions, but that’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Whitefish Bay coach Robby Dubinski said. “We’d put up two or three quick and then we get into lackadaisical possession where we just don’t attack. That’s what we have to do (in the
Ranked No. 2 in the nation, Bay has become a regular visitor to the state tournament, but Dryden said the experience is more than a simple business trip. Oregon 2, Waukesha West 2 (Oregon wins in shootout, 4-3): It took an impressive performance in goal and a bit of bad luck to prevent Waukesha West from playing for a state title.
Despite outshooting Oregon, 40-6, in a 2-2 draw over regulation and overtime, the Wolverines let penalty kicks decide their WIAA Division 2 state semifinal match Thursday at Uihlein Soccer Park.
After Duncan Morgan finished one save shy of the Division 2 state tournament record, Shane Sullivan came off the bench for the penalty kicks, stopping an attempt by Evan Donini to lift Oregon past Waukesha West, 4-3, in the shootout.
"At the end of the day, this is really painful for us," Waukesha West coach Marcel Feenstra said. "I don't say this a lot, but I think there was only one team that deserved to win, and that was us”