Wenck, Hunsucker, Ketterhagen, Torhorst all playing D1 college soccer
By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
A strong showing from the Waterford Union High School girls soccer team went for nothing April 23 in a non-conference match at Kenosha Tremper.
Wolverines coach Rob Blascoe said referees allowed a goal that should have been waved-off and Waterford lost 1-0.
Waterford (2-3) opened Southern Lakes Conference play Thursday at Elkhorn (8-0-2) and plays three matches Saturday in an invitational at Wausau West.
Blascoe said the match against Tremper (2-2-3) should have ended in a scoreless draw.
“The horn went off the clock was at 45 minutes, so a full game was played,” Blascoe said. “Tremper hit a shot just after the horn sounded. It went in and the referee allowed it.”
Blascoe said the rules state the ball must cross the end line and be in the goal before time expires to be counted as a goal.
“Even though it shouldn’t have counted and we would have gotten the draw, it goes down as a 1-0 loss,” Blascoe said. “The girls played an amazing game, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the effort.”
The Wolverines defense allowed eight shots on goal. Goalkeeper Andi Wenck finished with seven saves.
Lauren Torhorst scored three goals and Lexi Ketterhagen and Kenzie Malecki each scored one for Waterford in a win against East Troy (1-5). Abby Neubauer and Malecki finished with assists.
Wenck made three saves and earned the shutout. Blascoe commended the senior keeper for her final save, which came off a restart from about 25 yards.
Irish rivalry resumes
The luck of the Irish was not with the Wolverines April 16 at home against non-conference opponent Racine St. Catherine’s.
Waterford allowed four goals in the second half and lost 4-3 to the Angels. The Wolverines lost 4-1 to Milton in a non-conference match April 12 at home.
The loss to St. Catherine’s cost the Wolverines the Irish Cup. The two teams contested the cup for the first time this season after a trip to Northern Ireland last summer.
Eight members of Waterford’s girls soccer team and six from St. Catherine’s traveled to Northern Ireland for nine days in June 2015.
The combined team won two matches. The Angels and Wolverines beat Carnmoney 2-1 June 29 at Carnmoney, which is in western Northern Ireland, in their second match.
After the second match the mayor and deputy mayor of Carnmoney spoke at a post-match reception, along with Waterford coach Rob Blascoe and St. Catherine’s coach Ben Lake. The mayor awarded the two teams a cup, which is common in European sporting events.
Blascoe and Lake agreed that each season the girls soccer teams from Waterford and St. Catherine’s will play a game for the cup, and the winner will keep the cup as a traveling trophy.
It looked at halftime as though the Wolverines would win the cup. Waterford led 3-0 after goals from Lexi Ketterhagen, Lizzy Schappel and Lauren Torhorst.
“We played very cleanly in the first half and controlled the play throughout,” Blascoe said. “The second half was just the opposite. We had trouble keeping possession, and made too many mistakes defensively.”
St. Catherine’s (2-1) scored the game-winning goal off a restart in the 86th minute of play. Ellie LeCount scored on a free kick. Sadie Gilbert scored two goals and Molly O’Brien one for the Angels.
Milton (5-1) scored three goals in the first eight minutes of the second half, an offensive onslaught from which Waterford did not recover.
“We were without Andi Wenck, who was receiving a scholarship award out of town,” Blascoe said. “Freshman Aubrie Torhorst did a very respectable job in her place with nine saves.”
Senior goaltender Andi Wenck is attending Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. next season on a soccer scholarship.
Lauren Torhorst recently committed to Division 1 Valparaiso University, and Ketterhagen and Ella Hunsucker, who will miss this season with a leg injury, will play together at Division 1 Eastern Illinois this fall.
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