Girls soccer: Shawano drops home-opener to Lakeland Union

After opening the season with a shutout win, the Shawano Community High School girls soccer team was looking to keep things rolling in its home opener on Thursday.

Lakeland Union had other plans, as the visitors took control of the game early and went on for a 3-1 nonconference victory over Shawano.

“We had a couple injuries that kind of hurt us throughout (the game),” Shawano coach Bob Croschere said. “Overall, we just played a little slow. We need to pick up a few things and fix some stuff, but that’s kind of what these early games are for.”

Shawano (1-1) had a couple of opportunities to net a goal in the opening minutes, but for the most part, it was Lakeland Union that was in control.

The Thunderbirds (1-0) attacked early and often, getting several shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of play. Shawano junior goalie Peyton Buerman defended the net valiantly, denying the visitors from getting on the scoreboard.

Just after 10 minutes in the first half, Lakeland Union finally was able to sneak a shot past Buerman to take the lead.

After Buerman made another save less than a minute later, Shawano put together its best scoring chance off a corner kick. The Thunderbirds defended it well and quickly worked the ball back the other way before scoring again at the 13:43 mark.

The Thunderbirds kept the pressure on, but behind more superb goaltending by Buerman, the Hawks did not allow Lakeland Union to pull away.

Around the 25th minute of action, Shawano was finally able to start consistently attacking the Lakeland Union defense.

The Hawks got a shot on goal and had another scoring chance on a corner kick before junior Brianna Mott was able to outwork the Thunderbirds line of defense and get the hosts on the scoreboard with a goal at the 27:46 mark.

Senior Isabella Burr was credited with an assist on the score, which was Mott’s first on the young season.

“It (her first goal) really doesn’t mean much to me — it means more for the team,” Mott said. “Yes, it boosts my confidence but I know that ultimately putting the ball into the back of the net really boosted the team’s confidence, making the score 2-1, and gave us an extra step to keep trying harder. I thought after that, we put our better foot forward and played more aggressive.”

The Hawks’ offensive play did improve, but the team was unable to complete any of its scoring chances during the rest of the first half.

Shawano looked to score the equalizing goal in the opening minutes of the second half but were turned away.

Lakeland Union then was able to regain its two-goal lead with a goal at the 12:14 mark of the second half.

Shawano had a couple opportunities during the remainder of the contest, including one in the waning seconds, but were not able to score again in what turned into the team’s first loss of the season.

“I think our communication needs to get a little bit better,” Croschere said. “Our movement needs to get nailed down a bit but overall I’m just happy to be playing games already.”

“We really just need to start working together,” Mott said. “Ultimately, we learned that we all have our own strengths and weaknesses but our main goal right now is communication and knowing that we need to hold each other accountable for our play. I think we have a lot of potential, now we just to start working together and stay positive for the entire game.”

The Hawks are scheduled to take on Merrill on the road Saturday in their next game.

Lakeland Union 2 1 — 3

Shawano 1 0 — 1

First half

LU: Sagen Quale goal (Erika Intrepidi assist), 10:13

LU: Sophia Myshchyshyn, 13:43

S: Brianna Mott (Isabella Burr), 27:46

Second half

LU: Catalyn Ratajczyk (Olivia Melka), 57:14