WIAA girls soccer: These 4 Manitowoc, Sheboygan teams have best shot at state tournament
The WIAA girls soccer playoffs begin on Tuesday with several teams in the Manitowoc and Sheboygan area with true state championship aspirations, including a pair of reigning state champs.
Here are the four teams which have the best opportunity to reach the state tournament which runs from June 13-15 in Milwaukee.
Top-ranked Plymouth looking to repeat as Division 3 champions
The Plymouth Panthers won the first state title in program history last season and don’t want to wait too long it seems before winning another.
Plymouth, which is the No. 1 team in Division 3 according to the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association, earned a bye to the regional semifinals on Thursday by virtue of its No. 1 seed in its half sectional.
The lone loss for the Panthers all season came to the then-top ranked team in Division 2, Whitefish Bay.
Sophomore Kalli Knowles leads Plymouth with 29 goals while senior Hailey Batzner has 17 goals and 20 assists.
There’s also Knowles’s older sister, senior Melina Knowles, who patrols the middle of the pitch for the Panthers and is committed to play at the NCAA Division I level for the University of St. Thomas-Minnesota.
No. 1 Cedar Grove-Belgium seeks first-ever state championship
In the past six years, the Cedar Grove-Belgium Rockets have reached the state championship at the top seed only to lose in crushing fashion.
The undefeated Rockets, No. 1 ranked team in Division 4, are hoping to not repeat that experience again in 2024.
Cedar Grove-Belgium has won every game minus a 1-1 tie with the Kiel Raiders, who are ranked No. 2 in D4 and coincidentally defeated the Rockets in last year’s state championship.
Powering the Rockets is sensational junior Cora Erickson, whose 47 goals are one short of tying for the state lead. She’s also second in the state with 109 points.
Outscoring opponents 106-6 is a good barometer of a team’s ability to not only put up a bevy of goals but also keep the other team off the scoresheet as well.
More Cedar Grove-Belgium girls soccer: Cedar Grove-Belgium girls soccer outscoring opponents 65-6, fueled by past 'heartache'
Cedar Grove-Belgium doesn’t play until June 1, a bye through to the regional finals due to the lack of teams on its side of the D4 bracket.
The Rockets will take on either No. 9 Winnebago Lutheran or No. 8 Living Word Lutheran.
Kiel biggest threat to Cedar Grove-Belgium, looking to repeat as D4 champs
Kiel has been neck and neck with Cedar Grove-Belgium the entire season.
Pretty fitting considering the two teams drew 1-1 back on April 23 and it took overtime to knock off the Rockets in the Division 4 championship last season.
The Raiders are ranked one spot below Cedar Grove-Belgium but its hard not to argue Kiel shouldn’t be considered as equal contenders to win a second-straight state title.
Much like Plymouth, Kiel’s gold ball last season was the first in program history but it was also the first team state title in school history, dating back nearly 100 years.
The two sides wouldn’t square off until a potential state championship rematch as Kiel and Cedar Grove-Belgium are on opposite sides of the brackets.
And while the Rockets and Raiders might be equal in talent, Kiel is extremely well balanced in terms of goal production.
Taavi Saeger leads the Raiders with 20 goals but teammates Lydia Vander Meer (17) and Maddie McDole (16) are right behind.
Kiel’s postseason won’t start until Thursday when it hosts No. 16 Clintonville as the top seed in its half sectional.
More Plymouth girls soccer: 'She's special': Melina Knowles the engine for state-ranked Plymouth Panthers girls soccer
Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian not to be taken lightly
There’s one more Division 4 powerhouse in the area and that’s Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian co-op.
With all the attention Kiel and Cedar Grove-Belgium gets, rightfully so, its easy to overlook the fact Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian is also ranked in the top five in D4.
The co-op has played both the Raiders and Rockets this season and losing by identical 3-1 margins.
Maria Zylstra leads the team with 24 goals while Keeran Blattner is close behind with 21 of her own.
Just like Cedar Grove-Belgium, Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian won’t be in action until June 1 against either No. 7 Mayville or No. 10 Kohler.
Manitowoc/Sheboygan girls soccer playoff schedule
Tuesday, May 28
Division 1
No. 9 Sheboygan North at No. 8 Menomonee Falls
No. 14 Sheboygan South at No. 3 Divine Savior Holy Angels
No. 15 Manitowoc Lincoln at No. 2 Hamilton
Division 3
No. 17 Two Rivers at No. 16 New London
Thursday, May 30
Division 3
TBD at No. 1 Plymouth
No. 13 Wautoma/Wild Rose at No. 4 Sheboygan Falls
Division 4
No. 16 Clintonville at No. 1 Kiel
No. 9 Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah at No. 8 Howards Grove
No. 12 New Holstein at No. 5 Peshtigo
No. 14 Roncalli at No. 3 Xavier
No. 15 Valders at No. 2 Lourdes Academy/Valley Christian
No. 12 Columbus at No. 5 Oostburg
No. 13 Campbellsport at No. 4 Ozaukee/Random Lake
No. 10 Kohler at No. 7 Mayville
Saturday, June 1
Division 4
TBD at No. 1 Cedar Grove-Belgium
TBD at No. 2 Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: 4 Manitowoc and Sheboygan WIAA girls soccer teams with state dreams
