• Home
• Teams
• News/Events
• Galleries
• Maps
• Profiles
• Search

february 20 2008

Racine Spartans 2007 Girls U-18

Related Links:    League Game Picture Gallery    |    Fall 2006 Team    |    Fall 2005 Team

Season Recap:   The Racine Spartans Girls U-18 H.S surged during the second half of their season to capture second place in the Wisconsin State League Premier Division. League play ended with Racine tallying 12 goals in two come-from-behind victories over Middelton-Yahara and Kettle Moraine. The wins capped a six game win streak that saw the Spartans salvage a 0-2 start to finish 6-2-0.

It was a season of peaks and valleys, with injuries taking their toll. However, in the end, the girls found their rythym. The offense refined their attacking style and the defense held true; not allowing a league opponent more than two goals.

The girls enjoy some Halloween treats following the last game of the Fall 2007 season, against Kettle Moraine in Dousman WI. Click Here for a larger version of this picture.

Background:   As defending Wisconsin Premier League champions, the Girls U-18 once again embarked on an ambitious summer consisting of training and competition.

The summer began with participation in the Wisconsin Women's Premier League which provides college age players a chance to compete during the summer months. League games began during mid June and the season concluded during mid July. The Spartans took this opportunity to begin work on a trapping defense. Although there were some bumps along the way, the defensive squad of Simon, Skaarnes, Lenzke and Hartnell eventually perfected this approach to point of utterly frustrating most opponents. The Spartans ended the WPL season by winning 2 of their last three games.

Midway through the WPL season, many of the girls traveled to Ireland for a ten day trip consisting of four matches and sightseeing.

Plans for a busy August tournament schedule were washed out due to heavy rains. The FC Milwaukee Summer tournament was halted midway and The Battle On The Border (Kenosha) was cancelled outright a week later.

As such, the Spartans' first test was at the National Soccer Ranking [NSR] Gold Cup (Labor Day weekend at Naperville IL), which attracts many of the best teams from the Midwest. Racine was grouped with the nationally ranked Eclipse 89-90 team (top 20 in U.S.), the Chicago Fire Juniors and Team United (Orland Park / Tinley Park IL) for preliminary match play.

Although the Spartans ended the competition with a 1-2 record and were at the wrong end of some convincing scores, there were some positives to take away from the event. First, Racine was placed in a very competitive bracket; the Eclipse eventually won the tournament championship by defeating FC Milwaukee Blue 4-1. As it turned out, the Chicago Fire Juniors gave the Eclipse one of their more challenging games.

In regard to speed of play and skill, the Spartans demonstrated that they can compete with and challenge high-caliber teams; they discovered however that you need to be able to play at a high level for a full 90 minutes. What separates the top tier teams from the rest is their ability to play with high intensity for the entire match; their last five minutes of play looks like their first five minutes of the match. Although the Spartans eventually lost to the Chicago Fire Jrs 0-6, the match was scoreless with two minutes remaining in the first half. Against the Eclipse, Racine trailed 0-1 with less than a minute remaining in the first half before giving up a second goal before half time. In both cases, and true to their style, the Spartans repeatedly attacked and countered in order to create their own scoring opportunities.

As a final tune up for the league season, the Spartans entered the the Milwaukee Sport Club Soccerfest 2007 tournament held on the following weekend (Sept. 8-9). After a slow start against Oak Creek, Racine went on to defeat the MSC U-19 and MSC U-18 teams (both compete at the WI State League Premier level) in shutout victories.

[article continued below]

Racine Spartans Girls U-18 Fall 2007

Racine Spartans - Fall 2007
[Photograph taken after league game at Milwaukee Sport Club]    ... click here for larger version

• Melissa Christensen    Forward / Midfielder    Kenosha Tremper [2008]
• Emily Clark    Forward / Midfielder    Racine Washington Park [2009]
• Caroline Crehan    Defender/ Midfielder    Racine William Horlick [2009]
• Kristy Hartnell    Defender / Midfielder / Goalkeeper    Kenosha Tremper [2008]
• Tiara Herron    Forward    Racine Washington Park [2009]
• Cassie Hulett    Goalkeeper    Milwaukee Whitnall [2008]
• Allison Johnston    Midfielder / Goalkeeper    Kenosha Tremper [2009]
• Taryn Lenzke    Defender    Racine Jerome Case [2008]
• Laura Lins    Forward    Racine William Horlick [2008]  
• Allison Lucareli    Midfielder    Racine William Horlick [2009]
• Emily Mohr    Midfielder    Kenosha Tremper [2009]
• Katie Nehm    Midfielder    Racine Jerome Case [2008]  
• Kelli Ponce    Defender / Midfield    Kenosha Tremper [2008]
• Nicole Simon    Defender    Racine Jerome Case [2008]  
• Cori Skaarnes    Defender    Racine William Horlick [2008]
• Nicole Soyka    Midfielder / Forward    Racine Jerome Case [2009]
• Nicole Weiss    Defender    Racine William Horlick [2009]
• Michelle Yasatan    Forward    Racine Jerome Case [2009]

  Team Captain

WI State Cup Play:   With the beginning of Racine's league schedule pushed back to Sept. 22, the Spartans got their first real look at state competition at the WI State Cup, which was held during the weekends of Sept. 15-16 and Sept. 22-23. The Spartans were grouped with one regional team (SC Waukesha) and two premier division teams, the Milwaukee Sport Club Avalanche and FC Green Bay.

The Spartans opened up State Cup play with a disappointing 4-1 loss to SC Waukesha. It was one of those games where the score didn't reflect the even battle throughout most of the game. However, Racine relinquished a few easy goals and squandered many of their quality attacking build-ups.

On the following day, Racine faced off against Milwaukee Sport Club {MSC] and stepped up the pace of their attack. With the Spartans' midfielders controlling the direction and pace of a constant attack, Racine dominated MSC en route to a 4-0 victory.

With the chance to advance to the quarter finals on the line, Racine faced off against FC Green Bay for their third and final game of preliminary play. The game began with Racine scoring within the opening two minutes; only to have FC Green Bay score two of their own to take a 2-1 lead into half-time. Racine responded with an equalizer midway through the second half and the intensity level of the match escalated as both teams battled for an all important win. With about ten minutes remaining in the match, FC Green Bay scored the winning goal and held off a game Racine team in order to advance to the State Cup quarter finals. It was a disappointing end to a disappointing State Cup appearance.

FC Green Bay won the bracket but lost in the quarterfinals to Brookfield Red, 1-0.

WI League Play:   Following Racine's elimination from the State Cup, the Spartans opened their league schedule by hosting last years U-17 Premier Division champions, the mk Tosa Kicks.

On paper, it looked like a great matchup; last years U-17 champions meeting last last years U-18 champions. It turned out to be a hard fought defensive battle where both teams vied for control and several momentum swings had each team creating scoring opportunities.

However, the game of soccer often doesn't follow a script and an early goal by Tosa (within the first two minutes of the game) held up for a 1-0 victory for the visitors. It's never easy to end up on the short end of such a game, but Racine had played a tough team very well. Tosa went on to win the Fall 2007 Premier League championship with a 8-0 record, yielding a meager five goals.

Racine's second league game took the Spartans to Madison for a match against the Madison 56ers. Racine had lost three of their last four games and this match would have been a great opportunity to turn things around. It wasn't to be. The Spartans outplayed the 56ers for long stretches in the match but could not score. Meanwhile Madison made the most of their opportunities and ended up with a 2-0 victory. In retrospect, it would turn out to be Racine's worst performance of the year.

[article continued below]

Season Schedule

The listing below includes all tournaments and league games that the Racine Spartans Girls U-18 are scheduled to participate in. See map links in the schedule below for maps. Also see the Maps Home Page.

Date

Time

Location

Home Team

Away Team

Score

W/L

FC Milwaukee Tournament [August 17 - 19 2007]    [website] Cancelled due to inclement weather.

2007-08-18

07:00 am

Soccer Park Stadium

Racine Spartans

Glen Ellyn [IL] Raiders Navy

2-2

T

2007-08-18

11:45 am

Soccer Park Stadium

Racine Spartans

Madison 56ers Red

1-2

L

 

Battle On The Border [August 24 - 26 2007]    [website] Cancelled due to inclement weather.

 

National Soccer Ranking - Gold Cup [August 31 - September 02 2007] @ Naperville IL    [website]

Maps to Commissioners Park and Frontier Park available on Maps Page.

2007-09-01

07:30 am

Field H

Racine Spartans

Chicago Fire Jrs Red

0-6

L

2007-09-01

03:00 pm

Field 2

Eclipse Select 89-90

Racine Spartans

7-0

L

2007-09-02

10:30 am

Field 2

Racine Spartans

Team United

4-2

W

 

Milwaukee Sport Club Tournament [September 08 - 09 2007] @ Milwaukee Sport Club    [map]

2007-09-08

10:45 am

Field 1

Oak Creek

Racine Spartans

1-0

L

2007-09-08

04:30 pm

Field 1

MSC Storm

Racine Spartans

0-3

W

2007-09-09

09:30 am

Field 1

MSC Avalanche

Racine Spartans

0-2

W

 

Wisconsin State Cup Preliminary Matches

2007-09-15

04:30 pm

Anderson Park #2

SC Waukesha

Racine Spartans

4-1

L

2007-09-16

04:30 pm

Anderson Park #2

Milwaukee Sport Club

Racine Spartans

0-4

W

2007-09-22

10:30 am

Anderson Park #2

Racine Spartans

FC Green Bay

2-3

L

 

2007-09-23

01:30 pm

SCORe #17

Racine Spartans

Tosa Kicks

0-1

L

2007-09-29

04:00 pm

Reddan #4

Madison 56ers Red

Racine Spartans

2-0

L

2007-09-30

12:00 pm

Milwaukee Sports Club #1

Milwaukee SC Avalanche

Racine Spartans

1-3

W

2007-10-07

01:30 pm

SCORe #17

Racine Spartans

mk United

2-1

W

2007-10-20

1:30 pm

Allouez

FC Green Bay Orange

Racine Spartans

2-3

W

2007-10-21

03:30 pm

SCORe #17

Racine Spartans

Croatian Eagles Blue

2-1

W

2007-10-28

03:00 pm

Yahara #1

Middleton-Yahara SC White

Racine Spartans

1-5

W

2007-10-29

04:45 pm

Ottawa Town #6

KM Dousman Lazers

Racine Spartans

2-7

W

 

Veteran's Invitational Tournament [Evansville IN]

2007-11-10

07:30 am

Goebel Park #10

Mockingbird [Louisville KY]

Racine Spartans

1-0

L

2007-11-10

02:15 pm

Goebel Park #7

Racine Spartans

Carmel IN Crush

4-0

W

2007-11-11

07:30 am

Goebel Park #6

Racine Spartans

Southwest Indiana SA

3-2

W

Following the loss to the Madison 56ers, the Spartans notched victories against Milwaukee Sport Club and mk United to even their league record at 2-2. It was then a trip up north to once again battle FC Green Bay, the team that had eliminated them from the State Cup tournament. In what turned out to be one of the most unlikey come-from-behind victories, Racine recovered from a 0-2 half time deficit to defeat FC Green Bay 3-2. The winning score came with less than five minutes left in the game. At the time, the victory seemed to portend a change in team attitude and confidence. The spotty play exhibited at times earlier in the season had been replaced with a confidence that would be displayed throughout the remainder of the season.

Following the victory over FC Green Bay, the Spartans hosted the Croatian Eagles - Blue. A evenly matched contest ended with Racine coming out on top, 2-1 and extending their league record to 4-2.

In their remaining two league games, the Spartans spotted their opponents early leads only to bounce back and record convincing wins against Middleton-Yahara White and the Kettle Moraine Lasers. In both cases, Racine exhibited a patient approach that eventually exploited their opponents' weaknesses. The victory over Kettle Moraine capped a 6-2 league record and a six game win streak.

Veterans Invitational Tournament [Evansville IN]   The Spartans capped off their Fall 2007 season with a trip to the Veterans Invitational tournament, a respected regional tournament hosted by the Evansville Elite Soccer Club. The trip provided an opportunity to be seen by college coaches from the mid-central state area as well as a chance to get together one last time; for many players this would be their last team outing.

Competing in the U-18/U-19 Premier Flight, the Spartans represented the state of Wisconsin admirably as they completed preliminary match competition with a 2-1 record. The first match of the tournament, in which the Spartans lost to Mockingbird SC [Louisville KY] 1-0, turned out to be the difference between advancing to the quarterfinals and going home early. Even though the Spartans won the last game of the tournament in an exciting 3-2 come from behind victory against Southwest Indiana Soccer Assn., it was not enough to advance.

Mockingbird SC lost to the eventual tournament champion, Javanon 90, 1-0 in the quarterfinals. Javanon defeated Lexington FC Premier, 5-0 in the championship match. Racine had apparently been placed in what turned out to be the most competitive and evenly matched bracket with the Spartans recording the most one-sided victory in preliminary match play with their 4-0 win over the Carmel [IN] Crush. Most of the matches in Racine's group were closely contested.