By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
KAUKAUNA — Teig Driessen scored the game-winning goal in the 99th minute, as Seymour defeated Notre Dame Academy 2-1 in a WIAA Division 3 sectional final game at Kaukauna High School Nov. 2.
“Unfortunately, the one letdown we had defensively cost us the final goal,” said Michael Prudisch, Notre Dame head coach. “We were focused on the ball rather than our positioning. Seymour capitalized on it. We should have been marking up in the box, and we simply didn’t do that.”
With a state berth on the line, the physicality of the contest was evident early as the Thunder were issued yellow cards in the 7th and 22nd minute of the game.
With shots at two apiece, with 12 minutes left in the first half, Seymour’s Driessen flicked a ball backwards to Josh Prewitt, who ripped a shot in on Notre Dame goaltender Alex LaMere.
LaMere was up to the task in making the save to keep the game scoreless.
In the final minute before intermission, the Tritons were called for a handball, and Thunder midfielder Garrett Wendorff took the free kick from 23 yards out.
The shot started high and then dipped downward, hitting the right crossbar and going out of play.
The near miss kept both teams off the first-half scoreboard.
In the 62nd minute, Seymour finally struck.
Kevin Sosa-Lassila, who came into the game with a team-high 48 points, put a ball in front of the net that Driessen was somehow able to head into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Three minutes later, the Tritons answered back in a big way.
Notre Dame’s Kai Assef had a 17-yard shot go off the right goalpost that caromed to Tim Geocaris, who popped the ball into the back of the net to even the contest at one.
“We knew it would be a game where we might have to score multiple goals,” added Prudisch. “After they netted the first one, we didn’t put our heads down, and our leaders responded.”
Down the stretch of regulation time, neither team could score, as two 10-minute overtime periods were issued.
Six minutes into the first overtime period, Seymour’s Pace Jefferson appeared to be hemmed in on the right sidelines.
He went to the back end-line and centered the ball (before falling out of bounds) to Driessen to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead in the first overtime.
With the Tritons on the ropes (110th minute, second overtime), Geocaris got deep into the Seymour box and appeared to get hooked but nothing was called, ending the Tritons season.
As the final seconds ticked away, jubilation set in on the Thunder sideline, as they advanced to Milwaukee and the state tournament.
“This should have been our season,” said Geocaris. “We put everything on the line. We fought so hard, and it hurts really bad right now.”
Box score
Seymour: 0, 1, 1, 0 — 2
Notre Dame: 0, 1, 0, 0 — 1