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Elkhorn soccer rallies with second chance

ELKHORN — There supposedly are no second chances in playoff elimination soccer.

But the Elkhorn High boys team may beg to differ.

With his team down a goal with just six minutes left in its WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal against Kenosha Bradford here Thursday night, Elkhorn forward Jordan Kayser's penalty kick sailed wide right.

That's when the Elks got a reprieve.

Elkhorn was awarded a second penalty kick after the referee ruled Bradford goalie Remi Bibal left the goal too early. Jon Stopple took full advantage of the second chance and drilled a goal past Bibal that forced overtime.

After two overtimes, the Elks took control with a 3-2 advantage in a shootout to pull out a thrilling victory.

Elkhorn (22-1), the Southern Lakes champion, moves on to face Kenosha Tremper at 7 p.m. Saturday in a sectional championship game at Kenosha.

The Elks fell 4-2 to Tremper earlier this season. They have since picked up a forfeit from Racine Park, negating their only other loss.

But the rematch with Tremper was mere afterthought for the Elks, who were just relieved to get past Bradford (14-6-3).

"At the point we missed the first penalty kick, I thought this might be the end," said Elkhorn coach BZ Kayser. "Once we got that second chance, I went with Jon (Stopple), who I was going to use for the first shot, then I knew who I wanted to take that second shot."

Stopple made the most of his opportunity with a clutch penalty kick goal.

"There wasn't much going through my mind when I kicked it," Stopple said. "The goal was for my grandfather, who recently passed away."

Elkhorn took control of the shootout with goals from Kayser, Erikas Jurevicius and Keith Baerwald. Elk goalie Erik Papenfus took care of the rest, stopping two of the four Bradford shots he faced to post the victory.

"I hate shootouts," Papenfus said. "You zone everything out and just try to pick a side of the goal."

The Red Devils' Trent Smith found the right side of the goal at 65:00 mark of the second half to give Bradford a 1-0 lead.

Bradford couldn't hold the lead for the final 15 minutes and eventually gave up Stopple's penalty kick goal. Elkhorn eventually grabbed the upper hand in the shootout and posted the victory.

ELKHORN 1, BRADFORD 1

(Elkhorn won shootout, 3-2)

Kenosha Bradford 1 0 0 0—1

Elkhorn 0 1 0 0—1

Second Half

KB—Trent Smith, 65:00. E—Jon Stopple (penalty kick), 74:00

Shootout

E—Jordan Kayser. E—Erik Jurevicius. KB—Kiko Delgado. E—Keith Baerwald. KB—Zach Reget.

Saves—Remi Bibal (KB 7, Erik Papenfus (E) 11.

n East Troy High School's boys soccer team's season came to an end Thursday night.

After trailing 3-2 at halftime, Waukesha Catholic Memorial rallied with three goals in the second half for a 5-3 win in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal game.

Kai Bottum scored twice for East Troy, which won the Rock Valley Conference title.

CATHOLIC MEMORIAL 5, EAST TROY 3

East Troy 3 0—3

Waukesha Catholic Memorial 2 3—5

First Half

ET—Bottum (penalty kick), 2:48. CM—Horvat, 6:02. ET—Bottum (Drake), 7:05. CM—n/a, 25:33. ET—Drake (Edwards), 39:41.

Second Half

CM—Horvat, 44:51. CM—Samuel (Horvat), 45:31. CM—Horvat (Samuel), 55:51.

Saves—Harding (ET) 7, Catholic Memorial 13.