Friends will be foes in final.

Area coaches have long history

Rob Dubinski was minutes away from leading Whitefish Bay’s girls soccer team into their WIAA Division 2 state semifinal game Friday night.

A few feet away, Wauwatosa East coach Eric Dale heckled Dubinski — his good pal and former colleague — then came clean.

“Honestly, we are as tight as can be,” Dale said. “We’re thick as thieves.”

That may change for a couple hours Saturday night.

Dubinski and Dale — who coached together for several years at Wauwatosa East — will lead their respective outfits into the state championship game. Dubinski’s Blue Dukes rolled past Oregon, 3-1, in one state semifinal held at Uihlein Soccer Park. Two hours earlier, Dale’s Tosa East team routed Pulaski, 4-0.

That sets up a title matchup between two coaches with a lengthy history. Dubinski assisted Dale with the Red Raiders’ boys program from 2006-’12 and Dale assisted Dubinski with Tosa East’s girls’ team in 2013-’14.

Now, they’ll go head-tohead with a gold ball on the line.

“It’s going to be nerveracking,” said Dubinski, a 2000 graduate of ‘Tosa East. “It was an emotional departure, but it should be a fun game.”

The Blue Dukes (211-2) had plenty of fun against an Oregon (14-2-4) side that had allowed just four goals all season. But mighty Bay held a 27-7 advantage on shots, a 6-1 edge in corner kicks and came within one win of its first state title since 2000.

The game was scoreless until the 43rd minute when senior forward Daria Ghorbanpoor cleaned up a rebound after a blast from all-state forward and Louisville recruit Taylor Kerwin. In the 57th minute, Kerwin set up senior forward Brianna Murano to make it 2-0.

Kerwin then scored her own goal in the 65th minute when she sent a left-footed blast from 22 yards out to the left corner. The Panthers scored with 18 seconds left to spoil the Blue Dukes’ shutout.

“We’ve kind of been a second half team all year,” Kerwin said. “And I guess we just stuck to what we do and it worked out.”

Now, Bay is hoping things work out one more time. The Blue Dukes rolled past East, 4-0, last month, and they know a similar performance Saturday will mean a championship.

Wauwatosa East 4, Pulaski 0: Its been 14 years since East last played at state. Elyse Reagan and Liz Bueckers — a pair of junior forwards — made sure the wait was worth it.

Reagan and Bueckers scored two goals each and powered East over Pulaski in a battle of Red Raiders.

“I think we are starting to peak,” East coach Eric Dale said. “We’re playing very well right now.”

Pulaski would certainly attest. East held a 24-8 advantage in shots and an 8-4 edge in corner kicks.

Reagan struck in the seventh minute when she sent a blast from the left side to the far post. But even though East dominated the rest of the half, it couldn’t finish and held a 1-0 lead at the break.

“It should have been worse,” Bueckers said.

Eventually, it was. In the 47th minute, though, Reagan bent in a corner kick to the near post to give East a 2-0 lead.

In the 55th minute, junior midfielder Mariana Ibanez-Baldor played a perfect through ball to Bueckers. East’s striker fired on goal as she fell to the ground, and Bueckers’ blast found the low, right corner to make it 3-0.

Bueckers struck again in the 62nd minute when she converted a header from Reagan to make it 4-0.