Appleton North boys soccer settles for tie at Green Bay Preble

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

GREEN BAY – Coming off an exciting win over Xavier on Tuesday, the Appleton North soccer team had one last test before kicking off conference play and it came against a very good Green Bay Preble team.

Despite being dominated at times in terms of possession, all it takes is one goal and the Lightning made their first half goal hold up until the final moments.

With just over a minute remaining in the game, Preble was in desperation mode with Bogdan Tereshchenko blasting one from 40 yards deep and watching his shot hit the bar. What looked to be another Ben Wilke save by North goalkeeper on the follow up, a controversial decision to let the play continue resulted in a game-tying Jesus Garncia goal as the Lightning had to settle for the 1-1 draw on Saturday at Preble High School.

“I thought today was a great soccer game as both sides put forth a strong effort,” North head coach Kevin Murphy said. “We know that anytime we go up against a solid team like Preble that it will be an intense game. I was proud of our guys from start to finish today. This was a physical game and some of our players went all 80 minutes, but we just couldn’t finish it in those final minutes.”

That was a vastly different game than North’s one earlier in the week, a 4-3 win over Xavier, as goals were not as plentiful. In fact, it took a long time for the Lightning offense to settle in as the Hornets dominated possession during the first 15 minutes, resulting in plenty of shots on frame. Despite the constant pressure, Wilke made sure that the Hornets would earn their goal as he came away with 12 saves in the contest and several of them as potential game-saving stops.

Even with a lack of possession in the first half, the Lightning made the most of the chances they were given as Langston Moran ripped one from 30 yards out at the 16-minute mark only to watch his shot clank off the far post. It was at that moment when the Lightning offense settled in as they were the ones now putting pressure on Landin Gauthier in goal with Marcello Marconi being turned away on a free kick just outside the penalty area.

Looking for the first goal of the game, North (1-0-1) had the momentum late in the half and were looking to capitalize on a rare counter attack. Griffin Schroeder did just that as he managed to get past a defender to create space and put it past Gauthier to put North in front 1-0 in the 36th minute. Murphy wasn’t happy with how his team started the first half, but was pleased with how they responded throughout.

“It took us a little bit to wake up offensively,” he said. “I feel like we came in a little soft, which showed early in the game. We did have to move the lineup around a little bit to get a spark, which is what Schroeder did when he scored that goal. The team kind of fed off his energy and were able to match their intensity the rest of the way.”

Trailing for the first time in the game, it was Preble (1-1-1) coming out on a mission to start the second half as it not only dominated the possession again, but continued to get good looks. Had it not been for Wilke and some of the saves he made, this could have been a 6-1 or 7-1 game, but with him coming away with several saves, including a big one on Tereshchenko from close range, it was the Lightning continuing to hold a 1-0 lead.

“After losing an all-conference goalie last season, it really meant a lot to us to see Wilke play the way he did today,” Murphy said. “Ben is only a sophomore and this was the best we have seen him play at any point so far this season. We are so proud of how he stepped up today and he earned the respect of the entire team for his effort back there.”

Throughout the rest of the second half, the Lightning were unable to capitalize on the chances they were given. Given the play of Wilke in goal, he was making sure the missed chances from North didn’t cost them as he was single-handedly keeping them in front.

Then came the game’s final few minutes where the Hornets were not only in desperation mode, but fatigue was setting in on the Lightning defense. Preble continued to put quality looks on goal only to come away empty-handed. That all changed in the 80th minute as Tereshchenko blasted one from deep off the crossbar, which appeared to be the last hope for the Hornets.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, their inability to clear the ball cleanly, led to Garnica playing a loose ball and he put it home to tie things up 1-1.

Appleton North will look to use this as not only a learning experience, but as motivation as it will begin Fox Valley Association play on Thursday at Oshkosh North.