(2) Burlington at (1) Oregon, 4 p.m., Saturday, WIAA D2 sectional final
By Mike Ramczyk
BURLINGTON – Morgan McCourt and the Burlington girls varsity soccer squad made history Thursday night by making sure history didn’t repeat itself.
After two consecutive seasons of falling to Milton in the WIAA playoffs, the Lady Demons, seeded No. 2 in the Division 2 Oregon Sectional, got two first-half goals from McCourt and held on to knock off the No. 3 Red Hawks for the first time in school history, 2-0, at Burlington High School.
With the victory, the Demons move on to Saturday’s sectional final, their first chance at a trip to state in school history.
Burlington will travel to top-seeded Oregon, the No. 4-ranked team in the state in Division 2. The Panthers beat No. 4 Monona Grove, 3-0, Thursday night.
“I’m super pumped,” McCourt said. “This is the first time we’ve beaten Milton, and it really means something because last year’s seniors lost twice to them. Especially with my sister (Sydney), who can’t play anymore, who’s on the sideline coaching me, I knew she was there and I just did it for her. She deserved this.”
McCourt recalled Sydney’s senior season in 2015, when the Demons went to an overtime shootout and lost, 4-3, and last year’s sectional semifinal defeat. Both losses to the Red Hawks were at BHS.
The odds were stacked Thursday night, as Burlington freshman goalie Cora Anderson had to go to the hospital hours before the game with flu-like symptoms. After receiving an IV, she played through the pain, and finished with seven saves.
“Cora was throwing up before the game,” Morgan McCourt said. “She was absolutely solid. She played her game, and I don’t know how she did it.”
Also, Cassidy Askin was moved from offense to the back line of the defense to match Milton’s speedy forwards.
The plan worked to perfection, as the Demons dominated possession in the first half and continued their aggresiveness in the second half. The stingy defense took the Red Hawks’ best shot late in the game and kept the ball out of the net.
Burlington coach Joel Molitor said this year’s historic run is no accident. This season, all 11 players can make a difference at any time, something that wasn’t possible in past years.
“Girls who used to be role players now have enough experience,” Molitor said. “We have 11 dangerous players. In the past, we might have had anywhere from two to six dangerous players. Everybody else was maybe given one job. With this team, anybody can do anything.”
“Cassidy played wing defender tonight, she’s usually one of my best attackers. She hasn’t played there in weeks. And somebody like Mackenzie Zwiebel, who started the last 12 games, was willing to sit on the bench so we had a little more speed. This team has bought into the idea of playing for each other.”
McCourt continued to show why she’s one of the premiere scorers in the state.
Her two goals increased her season total to 30, and the second score was one for the college mixtape. In the 38th minute, May Jagodzinski drew a double team about 30 yards out before passing back to McCourt, who put a spin on the ball with her right foot and boomed a rocket on a line over the outstretched arms of the Milton goalie.
In the ninth minute, McCourt displayed her strength and competitiveness, beating Milton’s sweeper in a one-on-one exchange and finding the left corner of the net.
“Good God,” Molitor exclaimed about the second goal. “That was a grown woman shot. She put her laces through that so hard and drove that ball. That’s the kind of shot she’ll put in her highlight reel, and some college coach will come looking for her. She hit it so hard, it was almost like the keeper didn’t have time to react to it.”
Defense swarms in second half
With a 2-0 lead in the second half, Burlington’s offense didn’t let up. Jessa Burling and Ashlyn Barry worked the passing game in Milton territory, and Jagodzinski and McCourt tallied several shots. Barry took two straight corner kicks, but the Red Hawks held.
Around the 80th minute, Milton was in desperation mode, scrambling to get on the board. But two corner throws, where the Milton player did a cartwheel before launching the ball 25 yards toward the box, yielded nothing as the Demon defenders utilized inside position to deny any legitimate scoring opportunities.
Milton’s best chance, a corner throw where the ball bounced a few times dangerously close to the Demon goal, was controlled by Morgan Fisher, who dribbled out of heavy traffic and forced Milton’s forward out of the box.
Burlington finished with six shots and six corner kicks.
“Our defensive line is amazing,” McCourt said. “Cassidy did awesome and shut them down. I’ve never seen Morgan Fisher head as many balls in her life. She borrowed shoes from someone today. Lexie and Hannah played their hearts out. I can always trust those girls no matter what.”
For Molitor, the defensive success was due to consistent help when things seemed troublesome.
“Cora made some good saves and was aggressive to the ball,” he said. “If a first defender would miss, Hannah was there, or Lexie was there, or somebody else was dropping in. Every time I thought, ‘Oh, no’, someone was there to stop it.”
“With those corner throws, you just have to have the right mindset. We worked on it all week. If they get a corner, you just have to decide they’re not going to score. You either want to keep them from scoring, or you’re going to be casual. They were not casual tonight.”
Molitor said Oregon plays a similar style as Burlington, with a lot of passing and a lot of movement and switching. Oregon is a “blue-blood” program, according to Molitor.
The Panthers lost in a shootout in last year’s Division 2 state championship match, and they won it all in 2015.
“It’ll be the mindset we had when we beat Prairie (No. 1 team in Division 3),” Molitor said. “We’re playing some tough teams. I don’t think we’ll be afraid of playing them. We’ll talk mindset and have a plan for different parts of the game. But front to back, tonight was a complete performance.”
McCourt can’t wait to embrace the underdog role.
“Oregon is very experienced and they are very athletic,” she said. “I think they’ll be cocky thinking Burlington’s never been here and has never done it before. I think we’re going to surprise them and come in hard and fast in the beginning. That could give us the upper hand.”
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