Catholic Memorial comes up just short in D3 girls state soccer match with Plymouth
After Saturday's 2-1 defeat to defending state champion Plymouth in the Division 3 state girls soccer title match, Catholic Memorial coach Andreas Davi called his players over with their state runner-up trophy in tow to the CMH cheering section.
"This is my favorite second place," Davi said to his players among other subjects after the fifth loss in Catholic Memorial's 16th state title game appearance in program history.
The Crusaders, after taking down No. 2 McFarland in Thursday's semifinals 1-0 on a Kayden Scrima winner, fell behind to the now-back-to-back champion Panthers inside of the 12th minute on an error from CMH's backline that lead to a Hailey Batzner goal.
SUMMARY: No. 1 Plymouth 2, No. 3 Catholic Memorial 1
Almost exactly four minutes later, Lucia Brown answered with a thundering header off a beautiful corner delivery to level the match at 1-1, which remained the tally until the halftime whistle.
The second half was paced by the Crusaders, who dominated the chances through the early portion of the half. CMH put seven of their 10 total shot attempts toward Plymouth goalkeeper Paige Kurtz in the second 40 minutes. The junior netminder stopped six of those 10 attempts, including a huge save on Scrima inside of the opening three minutes of the half.
"It's like Thursday. They left their hearts on the field. They played good," Davi said. "But I have to say, if you don't finish your chances ... all you need is one goal more. That's how soccer is. We took ours and didn't make it. We told them not to (let Plymouth) take a shot and we need to take shots. We told them the whole time not to allow them to take a shot and this is what you get."
With Plymouth (20-1-2) working their way back into the contest similarly to the opening half, the Panthers took their shot on the boot of Melina Knowles, who fired a bullet off the bottom of the crossbar over Alexa Filipowicz and down across the goalline at the 69:45 mark to give the Panthers the golden goal and back-to-back titles.
The conclusion wasn't golden, but after a 3-9-2 season in Davi's first campaign, the Crusaders (13-9-1) were among the final two in Division 3 for departing seniors Bridget Kellogg, Kayden Scrima, Elle Sheahan and Filipowicz.
"It's obviously the first group I had in their freshman year," Davi said. "Seeing that development is fantastic because you know you're a part of it. The way they carried the team ... like I said, in those four years that we've played, I've never seen so much determination out of a CMH team today and Thursday. This is what you can be proud of. Those seniors, they're a huge part of it."
The likes of Claire Weber, Margaret Sisk, Lucia Brown and four defenders will be among those returning for CMH next season, and it may not be another five years before the Crusaders are back on the Uihlein Soccer Park pitch again playing for a title.
"State finals again, 2025," Davi said. "We wanna come back. We wanna come back stronger. We have a few good freshmen coming in and again, from year to year we went further. Now it's (gold instead of silver). Hopefully."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Catholic Memorial falls in WIAA girls state soccer match to Plymouth
