By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – In the last two seasons, the Bay Port girls’ soccer team has advanced to the WIAA Division 1 state championship game twice.
They are hoping to make it three straight this year.
The Pirates, who come into the season with a No. 1 ranking in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association preseason poll, finished 24-1 in 2018.
They beat Fox River Classic Conference rival Sheboygan North in the title game, 3-1.
The victory avenged its only loss of the year, which came to the Golden Raiders earlier in the season.
“Last year is something that is difficult to forget,” said a smiling Bay Port head coach Brooke Mraz. “It was quite the experience and the icing on the cake for a core group of seniors that worked really hard from their freshmen year on. It was a fun ride.”
The Pirates also advanced to the 2017 state championship game but fell to Brookfield Central, 3-1.
“The No. 1 ranking is a cool thing but yet pressure as well,” Mraz said. “We are going to get everyone’s best game against us. I don’t want our players to get too caught up in having to be perfect – mistakes are okay. We learned from the one loss we had last year. We don’t worry too much about the state rankings.”
The FRCC was one of the best conferences in the state last season, with Notre Dame Academy winning the Division 3 title and North finishing runner-up in Division 1.
It should be just as competitive in 2019.
“De Pere will be really solid, and I think Green Bay Southwest is up-and-coming,” said Mraz. “There won’t be a game that we can look past.”
Bay Port just won a state championship in girls’ basketball a month ago, so the pressure of that situation can only help the squad this year, as a number of the girls on that team also play soccer.
Juniors Alaina Abel, McKenzie Johnson and Emma Nagel and senior Grace Krause were valuable members of that team.
“They now have a significant amount of experience in big games,” Mraz said. “Having said that, each year is a new year. We have to stay true to our grassroots and take one game at a time. A lot of people ask me if we can win it again. Honestly, I’ll let you know in June. There’s so much parity in soccer.”
Nagel and Abel have already committed to play Division 1 soccer at Drake University and Loyola-Chicago, respectively, and Johnson could soon be following suit.
Nagel, who recently was named first-team all-state following her stellar basketball season, was also first-team all-state after her sophomore year in soccer after she tallied 27 goals and 23 assists for 77 total points.
Johnson (FRCC first team) added 31 points (8 goals, 15 assists), while Abel (FRCC first team) was rock-solid on defense, garnering second-team all-state honors a season ago.
Krause was also named second-team all-conference last year.
“They are a special group of girls,” said Mraz. “They have taken their God-given talents and worked very hard to reach their potential. The results are there.”
If the Pirates are to get back to the title game, they will have to replace a number of talented graduated seniors, including the 2018 FRCC offensive player of the year, Erika Hess.
Hess tallied 38 goals and added 12 assists for 88 points.
Anna Gulan (FRCC second team), Ariel Kuchta, Sophia Draghicchio, Cora Klemme, Alexis Brunette (second team), Greta Urban, Erin Ross, Gabby Noack (honorable mention) and Autumn Lakari also graduated.
“We have a tremendous amount of youth and substantial talent in that youth,” Mraz said. “I say we are reloading, not rebuilding.”
Bay Port may have been a little deeper last year with 10 seniors, but the goal is still the same this season: Make it back to Milwaukee for a chance to repeat.
“We have a tough conference and a tough sectional,” Mraz added. “We have Kimberly and Neenah back in our sectional this year. It’s a tough road ahead, but if we can stay humble, grounded and continue to work hard, I think we will have good results. I think we can effectively fill the gaps from what we lost last year.”
Seniors Katy Kane, Megan Nygaard, Maya Jacques, Cecilia Vanden Heuvel, Jenna Jacques and Delaney Wahl, junior Ava Style, sophomores Mara Gustafson, Hailey Kane, Madison Noe and Olivia Wahl and freshmen Lauren Bradley, Lindsay Herber and Grace Thomas round out the varsity roster.