Hat trick from Itecha leads Appleton West boys soccer to home win over Appleton North

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – The goal late in the soccer season is to be playing at your best once the playoffs start.

For both Appleton West and Appleton North, wins have been tough to come by consistently.

With both sides looking to pick up their second win in Fox Valley Association play, there was one standout performance that made all the difference as Kivi Itecha buried three goals for the hat trick to lift the Terrors past the Lightning 4-1 on Tuesday night at the Nienhaus Sports Complex. This marks the second FVA win of the season for the Terrors after not posting one since 2022.

West is now 5-5-3 overall and 2-3-3 in the FVA, while North falls to 3-5-4 and 1-4-3 in conference play.

“The boys started out the game so strong,” Appleton West head coach Derek Sanchez said. “They played with great effort and energy all game. We had some strong performances from all over the field. The boys were ready from the start to compete which was evident from the warm ups.”

Right from the opening kick, the Terrors came out with much more energy and did a phenomenal job controlling the ball. That led to a few early shots on target, but with Ben Wilke in goal, it was going to take a lot more than some long-distance shots to put the Terrors in front. With neither team seizing control of the match over the first 12 minutes, it was the Terrors who struck first and never looked back.

Lomona Ilunga moved the ball up field before finding Itecha, and he did the rest as he put one past Wilke to put West in front 1-0. Itecha was just getting started as he scored three goals in the game and single-handedly outscored the Lightning.

Looking to add to its lead, West had a free kick just outside the penalty area as Ilunga fired one toward the goal only to have Wilke come away with an incredible save. That was the start of a frantic finish to the first half as both teams suddenly turned it on offensively. After not doing much of anything against the Terrors, North finally had an opportunity to pull even at the 25th minute mark as Griffin Schroeder ripped a shot from just inside the 18 only to have that shot clank off the post as the Terrors remained in front 1-0.

A few minutes later, it was the Terrors benefitting from another lackluster recovery by the Lighting defense as Kristopher Cox played a long ball over the top and Itecha retrieved it before putting it home to double the lead 2-0.

Less than a minute later, it was another defensive miscue for the Lightning as they failed to clear a ball from the penalty area resulting in a strong touch from Lincoln Vang, who found an opening past Wilke to extend the lead to 3-0. It was at that moment when the Lightning offense really started to show signs of life with Keyson Lehrer coming away with a massive stop off Colin Wranosky late in the first half to keep North off the board.

“Defensively we had good pressure and were able to limit them getting good shots on frame,” Sanchez said. “Our keeper Keyson Lehrer did a great job being strong in goal. Our center backs Kaiyan Femal and Wyatt Dunn won a lot of headers and we had some great clearances.”

Eventually, that shutout would come to an end as the pressure from the Lightning paid off with Isaac Albers finding the near post to pull North within 3-1, 36 minutes in. With less than a minute to go before halftime, the Lightning continued to keep the pressure on and had one last shot to make things interesting as Langston Moran got off a good shot only to be turned away yet again.

Although the Terrors held a 3-1 lead at the break, there was a sense that they weren’t comfortable with that lead, especially with how North closed out the first half. What better way to change all that than by using a quick strike to put the game away. It was Itecha again making his presence felt as he showed off some terrific foot skills inside the penalty area before putting it past Wilke to complete the hat trick and push the Terrors lead to 4-1 three minutes into the second half.

“Itecha played a great game and has played great all season long,” Sanchez said. “He always plays with such great effort and intensity. He has grown in his composure in front of goal. His teammates set him up with some great passes and he was able to get behind the defense and finish. He is such a great kid. We are proud of him.”

Both teams will host nonconference matches on Saturday as West is at home against Gibraltar/Sevastopol and Appleton North will play Wausau West at North High School.

Terrors 4, Lightning 1
Appleton North   1   0   –   1
Appleton West   3   1   –   4
First half: 1. AW, Kivi Itecha (Lomona Ilunga), 13’; 2. AW, Itecha (Kristopher Cox) 32’ 3. AW, Lincoln Vang 33’; 4. AN, Isaac Albers 36’
Second half: 4. AW, Itecha 43’.
Records: Appleton North 3-5-4, 1-4-3 Fox Valley Association; Appleton West 5-5-3, 2-3-3 FVA.