Varsity Boys Soccer Wins Lakeland Union Invite After Exciting Shootout Victory

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Varsity Boys Soccer Wins Lakeland Union Invite After Exciting Shootout Victory

Varsity Boys Soccer (14-0)

The MSHS Varsity Boys Soccer team traveled to Minocqua, WI on Saturday, 9/18/21, to compete in the Lakeland Union Invitational showcase hosted by Lakeland Union High School.  Other participating schools included Amherst (WI) and Kingsford.

Evan Sysko battles for the ball vs. Kingsford at the Lakeland Union Invite (MSHS Soccer photo)

Game 1 – Semifinal:  Marquette 4, Kingsford 0

  • MSHS faced a familiar opponent in Kingsford in the day’s first game and cruised to a 4-0 win.  Enzo Stabile scored in the first half off an assist from Axel Vermaat for a 1-0 halftime score.
  • In the second half, Ezra Pickard scored three goals to complete the hat trick. The first goal was unassisted while the second goal was assisted by Isaac Johnson and the third goal assisted by Kaleb Chipelewski.
  • Harrison Anthos made six saves in net.
  • From MSHS Head Coach, Dan Salmon:  “We were missing some players for this tournament on both sides of the ball and we weren’t sure how the team would respond but they stepped up big.  Ezra Pickard had a phenomenal game.“ 
Goalkeeper Harrison Anthos makes 1 of his 4 saves in the shoot out vs Lakeland Union (MSHS Soccer photo)

Game 2 – Championship:  Marquette 1, Lakeland Union 1 (MSHS Wins Shootout, 4-3)

  • In the event’s championship game, it was the battle of unbeatens as the 13-0 Marquette Redmen faced the 10-0-1 Lakeland Union Thunderbirds.
  • After a scoreless first half, Max Dawson tallied an unassisted goal on a breakaway for a 1-0 MSHS lead.  Lakeland Union answered with a goal with 14 minutes remaining, making the score 1-1.  As time was running down, Marquette appeared to be awarded a penalty kick but the center referee changed the call to a free kick as time expired.
  • In the first set of shootout participants, Hayden Byma, Axel Vermaat, and Indigo Catalano all converted on their kicks with Harrison Anthos stopping two shots in net to keep the game level, which lead to a sudden death shoot out.  After a save in the sixth round by Lakeland Union, Anthos answered with his own save. The seventh kicker for Marquette was Dawson who converted to give MSHS the lead.  Anthos then secured the win and the event championship by making the game-winning save on Lakeland Union’s next shooter.
  • Anthos made 12 total saves in net, including four stops in the shootout.
  • From MSHS Head Coach, Dan Salmon:  “We were not happy with how the game ended in regulation, which made for good motivation going into the shootout.  Harrison Anthos again came up big for us as did freshman Indigo Catalano.  A shootout in a championship game comes with a lot of pressure and the team handled it quite well.“