Panthers pull out crucial EWC win

PLYMOUTH – Marisa Raeder, a junior forward, scored a goal with only five minutes remaining to give the Plymouth Panthers a 1-0 win over New Holstein in a pivotal girls soccer match here Monday afternoon.

The Panthers knocked the Huskies out of first place in the Eastern Wisconsin Conference race and moved into second place with a 6-1-1 record. New Holstein, which tied PHS 2-2 earlier in the season, dropped to third at 6-1-2. Sheboygan Falls took over first with an 8-1 mark.

PHS plays at Falls Friday in a battle for the EWC lead at 4:30. The match is a makeup of the May 11 game that was postponed due to wet grounds.

Sophomore forward Rachel Vargas assisted on Raeder’s goal as the Panthers finally broke through the Huskies’ defense despite have possession much of the match.

The victory kicked off a crucial week in which the Panthers had four games scheduled.

“We started on the right foot today with a huge win over New Holstein and I hope we can use that momentum as we move along,” said Panther head coach Sam Schroeder whose team improved to 9-5-4 overall.

“New Holstein is extremely dangerous on the counter attack, led by Mariah Wipperman who gave our back line fits all day.

“Those counter attacks were started time and time again by the New Holstein back line who always seemed to win tackles in one-on-one situations just as we were starting to look dangerous.

“We had the ball often enough and managed to break through their midfield but their back line was great,” Schroeder said.

Senior goalkeeper Marike Van de Pas came up huge for PHS with six saves. The Huskies led in shots on goal, 6-2. New Holstein goalie Emily Krueger made one save.

“When you look to name a player of the game you should certainly consider Marisa Raeder who scored the game-winning goal or maybe Rachel Vargas or Becca Ebbott who contributed the primary and secondary assists [respectively],” the coach said.

“But it was our goalkeeper Marike Van de Pas and our back line of Chelsea Martin, Lauren Schwalenberg and Janelle Schirmer who gave us a chance to win by keeping the shutout.”