By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
DE PERE – The De Pere girls’ soccer team used a trio of successful corner kicks to defeat Pulaski May 12 in Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) action, 3-0.
The Redbirds (12-2-2 overall, 5-0-1 FRCC) took a 1-0 lead into intermission before adding two goals in the second half.
“Pulaski is a scrappy team, they work hard and are well-coached, so I’m happy to leave with a victory,” De Pere Head Coach Andy Steger. “We wanted to get to three (goals), and we got to three at the end.”
De Pere sophomore Amelia Schuh scored on a corner kick in the 13th minute for a 1-0 lead.
Pulaski (3-7-1, 0-5-1) goalie Ella Sasse made a nice save 11 minutes later before a handball in the box led to a PK (penalty kick) attempt for the Redbirds in the 34th minute.
De Pere’s Great Czachor struck the ball well on the PK, but Sasse moved to her right to make the save.
The save by Sasse seemed to energize the Red Raiders the rest of the half.
“It was a good shot (by Czachor), but (Sasse) made a good save,” Steger said. “Then Pulaski was able to clear the ball away.”
Pulaski Head Coach Kelly Logue said she was proud of her team.
“I’ll never fault the effort of our kids,” she said.
In the second half, Czachor scored in the 70th minute on a corner kick off an assist from Oakley Witteck for a 2-0 advantage.
“We need to be able to score while running a play as well, but set pieces are huge,” Steger said. “We’ve had some struggles finishing off corner kicks – it’s been something we’ve been working on in practice.”
The Redbirds closed the scoring in the last minute of play on a goal by Alli Wettstein off another corner kick.
“We definitely have to work on defending corner kicks,” Logue said. “De Pere is a great team, but I thought we battled.”
Pulaski lost offensive leader Veronica Decker, a sophomore, to a knee injury in the FRCC opener April 19 against Notre Dame Academy – a reason Logue said her team is struggling to find the back of the net.
“She’s irreplaceable, and we haven’t quite figured it out since she went out,” she said.
Since that April 19 game, the Red Raiders have been held scoreless in five of their last seven games, going 1-5-1.