August 16, 2006 at 7:47 p.m.
Jaguars third in state - Win tourney in Madison
Jaguars third in state - Win tourney in Madison
State Tournament
The Jaguars opened the state tournament with a 2-1 loss to Coulee Region. They bounced back to tie Wings 1-1 and also tied eventual state champion Edina to finish 0-1-2 and earn third place. “The kids played well,” said Wildcat head coach Steve Jones. “We had a good season, finishing 7-1-1 in our league, and beat a tough Keliix team just to make it to the state tourney. We put ourselves in position to win the tournament. We ended the year as one of the top ten U18 teams in the state, and I’m proud of the kids for playing hard and playing well.”
Waunakee Cup
Largely due to late summer family vacations, the Jaguars took just 13 players to the Waunakee Cup, and still managed to dominate their bracket. They opened the tournament by beating the host team, the Waunakee Wizards, 5-1 on Saturday, August 12. The Jaguars shut out Capital City Investors Mortgage 5-0 the next morning, then beat the Monroe Rebel Vipers 3-1 to win the tournament.
In the first two victories, the Jaguars dominated the first half but led just 1-0 at halftime. And in both games, they poured it on in the second half. Two Jaguar players had two goals apiece. Ross Jones, playing for the first time since he broke his femur early this season, scored two goals against Waunakee in the opener. Aaron Bergerson scored his first two goals of the season against Capital City. The first goal came on a penalty shot, and the second goal came just two minutes later.
Early in the game against Monroe, it looked like the Jaguars might be playing from behind. Monroe’s speedy forward broke free with the ball down the left side. Jaguar goalie Tommy Fitzer came out to the top of the box to challenge the shot. The Monroe player ripped a shot toward the right post. Fitzer dove to his left and managed to get his outstretched hand on the ball, knocking it just wide of the post.
Later, Fitzer came out of the net to catch a high ball floating in the penalty area. He couldn’t get his hands on it, and left the net open. A Monroe player controlled the ball and got off a quick shot, but Andy Olness had filled in behind Fitzer. Olness stopped the shot with his chest, and the ball rebounded to the top of the penalty area. Another Monroe player ripped a shot, and Olness got in front of that one, too. The Jaguar defense was able to knock the ball away.
A few minutes later, Chisago Lakes scored the only goal of the first half as Aaron Bergerson ripped a shot from 18 yards that curled into the top right corner of the net for his third goal of the tournament.
The Jaguars took a 2-0 lead just five minutes into the second half as Fitzer picked up a loose ball, ran to the top of his penalty area and unleashed a long punt down the center of the field. Forward Blane Maher raced down the field, split the defense and caught the ball in stride just after the second bounce and put the ball in the net. Monroe pulled to within 2-1 with a goal just two minutes later. But, later in the second half, CL put the game away on another long ball from Fitzer. After a Monroe foul, Fitzer took a free kick from a few feet outside the Jaguar penalty area. He again lofted it long down the field. Maher again caught up with it, split the defense and scored.
“We had a good tournament to finish off the summer,” said coach Jones. “Tommy Fitzer did a good job in the nets. Our defense -- Jordan Belleisle, Andy Olness, Neil Taurinskas, Mitch Klimek and Brandyn Johnson -- played well all weekend.
“We got solid play from our midfield and forwards, as well -- Brandon Mueller, Aaron Bergerson, Blane Maher, Brian Jones, Brady Huber and Peter Rozumalski. And it was nice to see Ross Jones get out there again. He couldn’t run too well, but was effective passing the ball and put himself in position to score a couple of goals.
“We were missing our leading goal scorer, Chris Golv, this weekend, so it was nice to see other players step up and score some goals. It should help their confidence as they go into the upcoming college and high school soccer seasons.”
The Jaguars will scatter as the summer ends. Maher (Luther College), Huber (Hamline University) and Olness (University of Wisconsin – Superior) will be off to play soccer as college freshmen. Brian Jones will also be a college freshman at Winona State. Klimek and Mueller will play high school (Wildcat) football this fall, and Rozumalski will head back to Luck, Wisconsin for his senior year in high school. The rest of the team will likely play for the Wildcat soccer team this fall. You can read more about the upcoming Wildcat soccer season in our fall sports preview, due out in a few weeks.
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