By Josh Staloch
Correspondent
DE PERE – Two of the best teams in the Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) got together Thursday, June 3.
De Pere came alive in the second half to score a pair of goals in a 2-0 victory against Notre Dame Academy.
“We had a great effort tonight,” Andy Steger, De Pere head coach said. “Notre Dame is a great team, so we knew we’d have to fight hard the entire match. They’ve got some great players, but we did a good job to keep them in check for most of the night.”
The Redbirds improved to 9-4-2 overall and 6-1-1 in the FRCC, while the Tritons (13-2, 7-2) lost for the second time in their last five games.
The match was evenly balanced in the first half, with each team possessing the ball well at times and both goalies being tested.
At the 19-minute mark, De Pere’s Greta Czachor pulled off a header attempt in front of the net, but it sailed barely over the top bar.
Fifteen minutes later, the Tritons got a good look at the goal on a rocket shot by Lucy Quidzinski, but Redbirds goalie Grace Claflin made a nice stop, and the two teams went to the break scoreless.
The second half’s first bit of action came right away, as De Pere got an opportunity off a corner kick two minutes in, only to have it collected by Tritons goalie Emma Skaletski.
In the 20th minute, De Pere’s Hannah Welch, who had been denied twice earlier in the game by saves from Skaletski, got a one-on-one opportunity on the left side of the field and blasted a perfectly-angled shot to the right corner of the goal.
The Redbirds added an insurance score with 11 minutes remaining on a hard kick from the center of Notre Dame’s zone from Amelia Schuh.
“We gave up more free kicks and corner kicks than I wanted,” Steger said. “But, we were able to defend well enough to keep them out of the net, and our keeper did a great job when she needed to. It was an exciting game. Our girls worked hard to get the victory.”