McGreevey’s hat trick leads Xavier boys soccer to shutout win over Luxemburg-Casco

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – Coming off a hard-fought 4-3 loss to Appleton North earlier in the week, the Xavier Hawks boys soccer team was back on the pitch Thursday as they hosted Luxemburg-Casco in another nonconference matchup.

Looking for their first win of the 2024 season, it was one of the many underclassmen leading the way as sophomore Owen McGreevey had a night to remember.

Already with one goal under his belt entering this contest, McGreevey set the tone with a pair of first half goals en route to his three-goal hat trick performance as Xavier took down the Spartans 5-0 at Xavier High School.

“The team played well tonight,” Xavier head coach Modeste Rouamba said. “After the 3-4 loss to Appleton North, our focus was on securing a win this time. All three lines were connecting well with their passes, and we were able to keep the ball away from the Spartans effectively.”

Although it took more than 10 minutes for the game’s first goal to happen, the Hawks dominated things right from the start as their constant defensive pressure and quick passing decisions had the Spartans guessing. That led to several shots on goal early in the game, including one from Ben Kaufman who hit the near post in the eighth minute.

With all the pressure being put on L-C goalie Quentin Massart and the Spartans defense, something had to give as McGreevey broke the scoreless tie with a 12th minute goal to put the Hawks in front for good 1-0.

It came off a corner kick with Kaufman picking up the assist on the play. That duo was just getting started as the Hawks continued to dominate the pace of play leading to another turnover near midfield and a counter attack going the other way. With the ball at his feet, Kaufman found McGreevey streaking through the middle and the sophomore did the rest as he buried home his second goal of the half to push the Hawks lead to 2-0 which is where things stood at the half.

Things weren’t much different in the second half as the Hawks continued to keep the Spartans’ attack off balance leading to plenty of turnovers on their side of the field. That same defense held the Spartans to just one shot in the first half and three shots total as Elias Backes had a rather quiet night in goal. Rouamba loved that his defense responded after having some difficulty earlier in the week.

“Our defense worked cohesively tonight,” he said. “One of our team’s strengths this season will be our defense. Our center backs, Paul (Mastorides) and Wyatt (Rouamba), are Wisconsin ODP players, and along with Nick (Vajda) and Ethan (Long), they made it tough for Casco and will continue to challenge opponents throughout the season.”

Less than four minutes into the second half, it was the Hawks tacking on another goal with this one coming from Noah Arndt to push the lead to 3-0. Noah Schulist was credited with the assist on the play as it was all Xavier at this point.

Despite the Spartans’ defense starting to tighten up and keeping the Xavier offense in check for nearly 20 minutes, they were unable to solve McGreevey  as he capped off his hat trick in the 61st minute to push the lead to 4-0 as Kellen Tamlyn had the assist.

“Owen is our key player this year,” Rouamba said. “With four goals in just two games, he’s proving to be a real asset. His strength and speed up top allow us to stretch the field. His ability to play with his back to the goal makes him a significant threat in the attacking third.”

Xavier went on to add one more goal less than two minutes later with Arndt taking the Kaufman assist for his second goal of the half as the Hawks took care of business 5-0 to improve to 1-1 on the season. The Hawks will continue their challenging nonconference slate as they will take on Green Bay Notre Dame on Tuesday at home.

Hawks 5, Spartans 0
Luxemburg-Casco   0   0   –   0
Xavier   2   3   –   5
First half: 1. X, Owen McGreevey, 13’; 2. X, McGreevey 24’.
Second half: 3. X, Noah Schulist, 44’; 4. X, McGreevey, 62’; 5. X, Noah Arndt, 63’.
Saves: LC, Quentin Massart and Carson Koller 9; X, Elias Backes 3.
Records: Luxemburg-Casco 0-1; Xavier 1-1.