By David Paulsen
Correspondent
In a pouring rain Thursday, the Burlington High School boys’ soccer team edged Westosha Central 2-1 in a shootout to end the Southern Lakes Conference Tournament with two wins against no losses.
Head coach Phil Molitor noted the players were sliding all over the place and were covered in mud, but “they thought it was great.”
Keegan VanDusseldorp got the Demons on the board in the first minute of the game on an unassisted goal and it remained a 1-0 game until the 60th minute when Westosha Central tied it.
Although Molitor said the team had many scoring chances, they were unable to get any more into the net.
With the score tied at 1-1 after 80 minutes of regulation play, the teams went into overtime. Neither team scored in either of the two 10-minute overtime periods, sending the game to penalty kicks.
Matt Traber and Mark Caringello each scored on their penalty kicks to keep the Demons even with Westosha 2-2 at that point.
“Then Nolan Friend made a great save on their third shooter,” Molitor said, adding that gave Burlington a chance to take the advantage.
A successful penalty kick by VanDusseldorp gave the Demons that edge.
When Andrew Gauger knocked in a fourth penalty kick for Burlington and Friend made another save, Burlington had the victory by winning the shootout 4-3.
Robert Whitehead, who was slated to take Burlington’s fifth shootout kick, was not even needed since the victory had been secured.
With the win, Burlingotn improved to 11-6-1 overall, and 5-3-1 in the SLC.
The Demon boys will host Milwaukee Pius at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, in the final regular season game.
WIAA Division 1 Regional action begins Tuesday, Oct. 11. Pairings had not yet been determined as of press time.
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