Hilltoppers return to familiar place
Holton’s goal sparks 15th WIAA soccer title
MUKWONAGO – Saturday the king of high school soccer in Wisconsin reclaimed the throne.
Few, if any, prep programs in the state have dominated its sport the way Marquette has since joining the WIAA 21 years ago. Its 19 state tournament appearances are the most in WIAA history. Its 15 state titles are more than twice as many as anyone else.
However, when the Hilltoppers were bounced from the tournament in the sectional semifinals last year, it was a reminder that their success wasn’t automatic. This year they reminded us of how good they can be.
Marquette scored a 3-0 victory over Arrowhead in the Division 1 final at Mukwonago. It got one goal and one assist from junior Miguel Gonzalez and a game-sealing unassisted score from junior Valentin Sandoval while
playing with a bundle of energy despite playing two championship-level matches Saturday with just about a three-hour break in between.
Fatigue was no match for the Hilltoppers’ drive to return to championship status.
“It felt like I rested the whole day,” Gonzalez said. “I had so much energy and I think it transferred through the whole team. We all brought each other’s spirits up. Adrenaline carried us through this whole game.”
Marquette started the day with a 3-0 win over Hudson. Against Arrowhead, senior Charlie Holton scored the only goal the team would need on a penalty kick in 28th minute and the Hilltoppers iced the contest with goals in the final 6 minutes by Sandoval and Gonzalez.
But Marquette wasn’t satisfied with its play in the first game of the day and took the field with the final intent on having a sharper performance. It did.
The Hilltoppers held an 18-5 edge over Arrowhead in shots that included an 8-2 edge in shots on goal. If there were a stat for time of possession, that would have been heavily in their favor, too, especially in the first half.
The only goal they’d need started with Gonzalez who sent a ball into the box from about 25 yards on the right side. Holton, who was coming into the box from the other side of the field, timed his header perfectly for a goal at 27 minute 1 second mark.
“That is one of those goals you dream of,” Marquette coach Steve Lawrence said. “The ball is coming in. Charlie Holton is making a strong run and he heads it right into the corner. You can’t ask for a better goal. We work on those. You talk about them, but to do it in a final is impressive.”
The Hilltoppers controlled the second half as well – it allowed just one shot during those 45 minutes – but it wasn’t until the final 11 minutes that the win was sealed.
Sandoval took care of that with an unassisted goal at 79:52. Gonzalez capped the scoring about 2 minutes later on a play that was set up by a long run by senior Gabe Anguil, who got the assist on the play.
The moment punctuated the year for Anguil, a UW-Milwaukee recruit who served as a spark to the team’s success.
“That was a great way to put an exclamation point on our season,” Lawrence said. “I think he proved this weekend why he is the top player in the state. To end on that goal, that was all him. He created it and gave a great ball to Miguel.”
Arrowhead, which defeated Elkhorn, 1-0, in the semifinals, finished the year 11-3-1 and posted its third second-place finish at state in six seasons. The Warhawks overcame a COVID-19 quarantine that contributed to a late-season slide before winning four straight postseason games by one goal.
“I thought they opened up a little faster than we did,” Arrowhead coach Jeff Staus said. “It took us a little while to settle in. We had a (shot) that went off the post in the opening minutes and then we had a couple other ones that crossed the goal. If one of those goes in, you just don’t know.”
Marquette finished the year 13-0-2 in a season that will be memorable for many reasons.
It started with the announcement that the team would not play this fall in order to comply with COVID-19 regulations put in place by the Milwaukee Health Department. Days before the start of the season, however, the health department approved a mitigation plan by the school that allowed the team to play.
The team went on to win its 10th straight Greater Metro Conference title. Last week the team knocked off Whitefish
Bay in a sectional final showdown of teams ranked in the national top 10 by United Soccer Coaches.
And then this week, the Hilltoppers overcame the challenge of playing a championship match with a turnaround half as long as Arrowhead’s with the help of a nearby church that offered the team a place to eat and rest before the final.
It was a whirlwind that ended Saturday with the players sprinting from the bench to the student section on the other side of the field to grab the championship trophy and take team pictures.
Most players were so excited they probably didn’t realize the trophy wasn’t theirs. Knowing there wouldn’t be a trophy presentation due to the pandemic, Marquette athletic director Bob Herman pulled the 2002 state championship trophy out of the case and had it presented to the team.
The 2020 trophy will come in the mail. The status of the 2020 Marquette Hilltoppers, however, is already sealed.
“The emotions are insane,” Holton said. “Last year we lost in the sectional semifinal and we were heartbroken. This year we didn’t know if we’d have a season. (When) we knew we had a season, we knew we had to get it done.”
Division 2
Manitowoc Roncalli/Two Rivers got two goals from Tyler Bonin in the final 20 minutes to score a 2-0 victory over Sauk Prairie in the championship match at Marshfield. The Jets finished the season 14-1-1; Prairie finished 11-3-3.
Division 3
An own goal by St. Lawrence in the third minute set the tone for the contest. The Prairie School’s Daniel Dreifuerst and Cameron McPhee did the rest in a 4-0 victory in the final at Kewaskum.
Dreifuerst, a senior, scored two goals and had one assist. McPhee, a junior, posted a goal and an assist in the first half as the Hawks (16-2-1) finished the season with five straight shutouts.
The championship is the seventh overall for The Prairie School and fourth in the last 10 years. It also won in 2004, ’05, ‘10, ’11, ’14 and ’17.