GIRLS SOCCER East offense still struggling, shut out twice

It was a tough week for the Brookfield East Spartans girls soccer team, as it lost a Greater Metro Conference match at Sussex Hamilton, 2-0, on April 24 and then followed that with a heartbreaking non-conference loss at the hands of the undefeated Cedarburg Bulldogs, 1-0, Friday at home.

The Achilles heel of the Spartans lately has been their inability to create any type of offensive pressure on their opponent.

Against Hamilton, the Spartans could only muster a handful of shots on goal, even though they controlled the midfield for most of the first half, not allowing the Chargers to get on track. However, East could not get past the stout Hamilton defense to find the net.

In the second half, Hamilton found the goal in the 46th minute when the Chargers hit a rocket from the 18-yard box that Spartan goalkeeper Erin Wachowiak got a hand on but was unable to gather in and a Hamilton player tapped in the rebound for the 1-0 lead.

For the remainder of the game, Hamilton frustrated the Spartans, consistently keeping the Spartans off balance. In addition, injuries to starting defender Kate Rielly and top sub Gabby Radtke put added pressure on East's depth, which was already missing starters Taylor Swittel and Jackie Wandt for a second straight game.

In the 80th minute, Hamilton was able to get behind the Spartan defense and found the net to make the final score 2-0.

On Friday, the Spartans had the daunting task of taking on Cedarburg, the state's top-ranked team.

"We looked good defensively and battled one of the better teams around for 80 minutes," coach Matt Schroeder said.

Cedarburg kept putting pressure on East but each time the Spartans responded.

Wachowiak made four outstanding saves that kept the Bulldogs off the board and Schroeder talked about her work in the net.

"Erin had her best game of the season," he said. "She kept us in it."

The Spartans, however, were unable to get one shot on goal the entire game. Cedarburg finally was able to break down the Spartan defense in the 74th minute when after a scramble at the top of the 18-yard box, the Bulldogs were able to sneak in a shot underneath the outstretched arms of Wachowiak for the game's only goal.

Unfortunately, East suffered another injury when top scorer and senior captain Aly Loepfe was injured.