Girls soccer

The girls soccer team traveled to Rochester twice last week and came home with one win and one loss.

Against Lourdes Thursday evening, the girls fell 0-2. Coach Susan Link commented, ìWe started slow. It took awhile for us to figure it out. The second half looked better.î

Lourdes scored both its goals in the first half, one at 15:00 and one at 22:00.

The team is trying out new goalies this season after losing two goalies to graduation. Danielle Frank started against Lourdes and was replaced in the second half by Ellen Klug.

Link described the Lourdesí goalie as ìawesome.î She had 24 saves to Caledoniaís 20.

The team looked better after going from four to three defenders which freed up the midfield, said Link.

ìThe defense has to pick up on their marks,î said Link. ìWe need to work on clearing the ball. We donít want the ball in front of the goal.î

The girls traveled to Rochester again Saturday to meet John Marshall High School, a new team on the schedule.

J-M scored the first goal early in the game but wasnít given a second chance. Caledonia emerged from that contest with a 2-1 victory. The team started out flat, but then dug down for the win, said the coach.

Brianna Polus scored on a penalty kick at 32:00 in the first half. Rachel Ellenz scored the second goal at 27:00 in the second period.

ìShe really came through for us,î said Coach Link. ìRachel is always good for a goal.î

Klug did an excellent job as goalie, noted Link.

Lynn Bauer did a good job of clearing the ball, and Leah Bartelson and Emily Welscher both had good games, said Coach Link.

ìEmily is very coachable. She shows patience in containing her opponent,î noted Link.

This week, the girls met Cotter on Tuesday night and will meet the La Crescent Lancers on Thursday night; both are away games. The next home game is September 13.

Boys soccer

Two big games, two big wins.

That sums up the start of the Caledonia boys soccer season for coach Tom Krinke.

The Warriors defeated Onalaska 2-1 in overtime in their home opener on August 30, then beat La Crosse Central on the road two nights later, 2-0.

Krinke said the first first five games of the season are against high quality teams. ìTo win the first two games was huge,î he said on September 3. ìThere are certain teams that you measure yourself against. That sets the tone.î

The Onalaska game was played on a warm summer evening before a good-sized crowd that had plenty to cheer about. They watched two evenly-matched squads battle back and forth.

Kaleb Schmitz scored Caledoniaís first goal on a feed from Adam Zard just five minutes into the game. It was important to get that early lead, Krinke said.

Onalaska tied the game on a penalty kick 59 minutes later. Then the game see-sawed, with flurries in both ends, great defensive plays, and great saves, Krinke said.

ìIt was really a super game. Theyíre a quality team,î Krinke said.

Soccer overtime consists of two 10-minute halves. The lone overtime goal came after Caledonia goalie Luke Nelson boomed the ball an estimated 80 yards. Adam Zard battled for the ball, then slipped it past Onalaska goalie Matt Flaschberge five minutes in the first half.

Onalaska then had 15 minutes to score. ìWe had to hold them off for 15 minutes. They were ferocious,î Krinke said.

The Caledonia midfield never wore down, Krinke said, then added, ìLuke made some fantastic plays to keep us in it.î Nelson had 17 saves.

Onalaska beat a tough La Crescent team 2-0 on September 2. ìThat just shows how competitive this stuff is,î Krinke said.

Krinke named Adam Zard as the player of the game because he assisted on Schmitzís goal, and scored the winning goal.

The victory over Central was a tough one, Krinke said. Central had a different formation, with four or five guys back. ìWhen weíd get up near their goal, it was just clogged,î Krinke said.

The first half ended 0-0. Then the Warrior players heard that La Crescent had lost to Onalaska, and it seemed to motivate them, Krinke said. ìWe knew we had to win that game.î

Caledonia made some adjustments and things started working. At six minutes into the second half, Schmitz broke loose and got into the box. Lancer goalie David Isaacson forgot what sport he was playing and tackled him. Schmitz got a penalty kick out of that. Nick Rollins came up from the defense yelling, ìIím taking the shot,î and cracked it by the goalie. Krinke was proud that Rollins took that leadership role.

Caledonia started controlling the midfield after that, and had more shots. At the 28-minute mark, Tyler Schulte broke loose on the side and fed Schmitz, who beat three guys and the goalie.

That earned Schmitz the player of the game award. ìOnce he got going, he was unstoppable,î Krinke said.

Nelson had five saves.

This week Caledonia hosted Aquinas on Tuesday, then La Crescent comes to town on Thursday at 7 p.m. ìThat will be really good soccer,î Krinke said.

The Warriorsí first game at Austin on August 28 was canceled due to a scheduling conflict, and might not be rescheduled.

Volleyball
Caledonia opened its 2004 volleyball season on the right foot with a four game victory over Fillmore Central at home on September 2.

The Warriors won the first two, 25-13 and 25-22, before dropping the third one 22-25. The final game was an exciting 26-24 comeback win.

Caledonia coach Scott Koepke had these comments about the game: ìI thought we passed the ball and set the ball very well in this match.ÝÝWe have a few fundamentals things our attackers need to tweak tonight in practice to get ready for our tournament tomorrow.

ìFillmore played very hard and deserves a lot of credit for their effort. Their hitters hit the ball very hard and they dug a lot of hard balls we sent their way.ÝOur girls hung very tough in this match.ÝÝBeing down 8-20 in the fourth game going to 25 and coming back is nothing short of incredible.Ý You could watch volleyball for 10 years and never see that happen again.ÝÝJust a great effort to gut it out.

ìWe had many players come up big for us.ÝAngie Ideker had 14 kills Alecia F. had 13 kills.ÝAshley King had 17 digs.
ìProbably the most crucial piece of the puzzle was how Maggie McCarthy played in the fourth game.ÝÝNot only did she supply us with four kills and some big digs, she brought a level of intensity and spirit to the court which was just what we needed to pull off that comeback. Wonderful job Maggie!î

Caledoniaís next home game is September 9 against Lewiston-Altura.

Football

Caledonia used a second half adjustment to beat Dover-Eyota in football on September 3, 27-14.

ìThe kids really played their hearts out,î Warrior coach Carl Fruechte said several times in describing the road win.

It didnít come easy. D-E scored first, and took a half-time lead of 14-7 on a couple of short runs. Caledonia's score came after a 70-yard drive that ended with a seven yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Cory Messner to his 6-4 wide receiver Matt Frank. Phil Guillien kicked the extra point.

Then came the half-time and pep talk from a Fruechte, who reminded the players of the game plan: take D-E quarterback Travis Meiners out of the game, pressure him more, make him get rid of the ball or pitch it, rather than use his blazing speed.

ìWe wanted someone else to beat us,î Fruechte said. Some frustrations came out, and the team responded.

It started with a long kick-off return by Karl Klug, then a 41-yard pass from Messner to Sam Gerardy, who was tackled on the five yard line. Justin Conway punched in the touchdown, and a Guillien kick tied the score.

Then with Fruechteís advice echoing in their helmets, the defense started keying on the quarterback, making good reads, and forcing him outside.

Defensive back Kevin Klug completed the effort with an interception and ran it in 25 yards for a touchdown. The Warriors never trailed again.

Messner and Gerardy linked up in another wheel route pattern, this time with Gerardy plowing into the end zone. Jacob Hoscheit was a key to the successful play by running straight at the free safety. That selfless act, combined with the double teaming on Frank, opened up Gerardy, Fruechte said.

He also praised the offensive line, which did a great job getting off on the ball against their bigger opponents.

Junior Chris Summers at center in his first varsity game, did a great job taking care of the D-E noseguard, Fruechte said, and Wyatt Hammell, another junior, had a good effort in his first varsity game at left tackle.

Caledoniaís first home game is Friday against St. Charles at 7 p.m.

Look for another Fruechte pep talk aimed at their big running back.

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