T-Bird boys’ soccer falls to Shawano in penalty kicks

On a cold and snowy Halloween night, the Lakeland boys’ soccer team’s season ended with playoff heartbreak.

Shawano, the No. 2 seed, beat top-seeded Lakeland 1-1 (5-4 penalty kicks) in a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal game in Minocqua.

“All I can say is the boys played very hard,” coach Ihor Myshchyshyn said. “(They) left it all on the field, came back from behind against a very tough Shawano team. In the conditions that were between snow and rain on the field and stuff like that, yeah, the boys dug in hard, played, came back. I believe that in extra time we played better than them. (It) just didn’t materialize into anything. Penalty kicks are a gamble. You put them out there, and they did their best and happens to go the right time to the right side and were costly for us today. Very proud of the kids how much effort and time they put into this to get this far. For today it was a real good game.”

Shawano strikes first

The Hawks, who came into the game with a record of 13-7-2, 5-4-1 in the Bay Conference, got on the scoreboard first. Ruben De Gaspari scored in the box at 31:06 to give the Hawks momentum at the end of the first half.

Thunderbirds, from left, Dominic Gironella, Jack Stepec, Oren Slemmons, Sawyer Brown, Ethan Seeliger, Lincoln Friedley and Kaden Carlson celebrate Seeliger’s goal in the second half of a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal game against Shawano Thursday, Oct. 31 at IncredibleBank Field in Minocqua. (Photo by Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)

“We were not winning the ball in the middle of the field,” Myshchyshyn said. “It was 50/50 probably close, but it felt for me on the bench Shawano had a little bit more advantage in the middle of the field in the first half. It was a set piece, ball went in the box, and they were quicker to get on top of it and put it in the back of the net.”

Lakeland’s offense wasn’t quite as smooth. Ethan Seeliger took a free kick at the 30th minute that sailed out of bounds. The Hawks led 1-0 at halftime.

“I felt like first of all we didn’t quite click in the first half,” Myshchyshyn said. “There was something off. It was pretty obvious that we were not tying our passes — don’t know if it had to do with conditions of the field, nervousness. Something was a little off. They capitalized on this.”

Talan’s toughness

Lakeland goalie Talan Pockat defended the net with eight saves in the contest. He knocked away a free kick by Shawano’s Kody Popelka in the third minute.

One of Pockat’s biggest saves came in the 27th minute when he deflected the ball away for a save on a good chance by Shawano.

“This is probably one of the, maybe second game all season that he had to really work hard for his position, and he did all that,” Myshchyshyn said.

In the second half, Pockat and the Lakeland defense shut out Shawano to give Lakeland a chance to tie or win the game. 

Equalizing Ethan

Lakeland got the tying goal courtesy of Seeliger. He used a one-touch shot that deflected off the fingertips of Shawano goalie Ryan Buerman and into the back of the net.

“Phenomenal goal at the right time,” Myshchyshyn said. “He put himself in the right position to take the good shot to give us hope.”

Seeliger’s goal tied the game at 1-1 at 61:27.

The Thunderbirds used their momentum and almost scored the go-ahead goal late in the second half. Buerman made a diving stop before pouncing on a wet ball.

In the final seconds of regulation, Gironella took a shot from the 25-yard line that Buerman caught near the goal line.

The sectional semifinal game went to extra time tied at 1-1.

Extra time

Both teams had chances in extra time. A Shawano shot just missed the net in the first overtime, going right.

Marshall Holmquist made a run at a goal in the second overtime. Buerman came out to stop the run of Holmquist. The ball ended up going left of the net. No foul was called on the play in the 93rd minute.

Connor Erickson controls the ball followed by Shawano’s Dylan Gartner in the first half of a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal game against Shawano Thursday, Oct. 31 at IncredibleBank Field in Minocqua. (Photo by Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)

Then, a give-and-go with Dominic Gironella and Seeliger resulted in a Gironella shot that was saved by Buerman again. Buerman finished the game with six saves.

“At that point they were exhausted,” Myshchyshyn said. “It just basically — I think they wanted it, and they were ready, and it showed that they were more hungry on that field at that time. It just did not go in the net. We didn’t create enough chances to hopefully get one in.”

The Thunderbirds also had a couple of Lincoln Friedley corner kick chances with no goal coming.

The Hawks took a free kick with seconds remaining in the second overtime. Popelka sent the ball into the box where it was headed by Bryce Lammers off target.

After two 10-minute periods of extra time, the score remained at 1-1. Lakeland ended the game with 12 shots, nine on goal. The Hawks totaled seven shots, six on goal.

Penalty kicks

A penalty kick shootout occurred after the two extra-time periods. The winner of the shootout would advance to the sectional final.

Lakeland went first with Gironella stepping to the line. Buerman blocked his shot.

“For awhile (Dominic’s) going to be in a lot of pain feeling that, but thing to remember that Dominic is one of those players that got us that far, got us the conference championship, was part of the team, but very much big part of it,” Myshchyshyn said. “His skills, his abilities, his energy brought us here, and it just unfortunately has to end, it did end that way, but it’s a gamble of sports. You have to keep playing. You have to take the good of the bad and pain with enjoyment. You never know which given day it’s going to be your night or not. Phenomenal player, very happy to coach him. Skills by far the best in the conference. Again, it’s going to hurt for a little bit.”

Anderson Schmidt made Shawano’s first PK to put them up 1-0.

The Thunderbirds got the next two PKs to score courtesy of Holmquist and Brady Wolfe. For Wolfe, it was his first game action of the night. 

Shawano answered with makes of their own by De Gaspari and Braxton Hetzer.

“Talan was fine for the PKs. In the PKs, I always say the pressure is on the kicker because you are expected to score,” Myshchyshyn said. “The keeper just has to deal with whatever is out there, react, you take your guesses, and if you’re right, that’s fantastic, and in some quick reactions here and there. But if not, that’s what it is. He did his job especially after long, cold game, step up and play out there.”

Next, Jack Stepec was called upon. He scored his penalty kick to tie the shootout at 3-3. 

“I think they all handled it really, really well,” Myshchyshyn said. “All I did is have the names, and if you rather not kicked, you had that right to step to the side and someone else next in line that I had for that procedure for the PKs step into the first five. Jack’s … calmly, quietly stepped on, waited till keeper showed him where he is going, which direction he was leaning, and just basically … executed. It just shows, too, mental toughness of the player and a lot of time practicing too.”

Once again, Shawano scored. The Hawks took a 4-3 lead after a Grayson Swedberg goal.

Lakeland needed a score to stay alive. Cam Bernard succeeded to make it 4-4.

The Thunderbirds were still looking for a stop or miss to send it to another shootout, however, Popelka delivered a successful PK, sending Shawano to the sectional final game.

Though Lakeland lost, the game is considered a tie for record keeping purposed. Lakeland finished with an overall record of 16-1-3.

Shawano had more PK magic on Saturday, defeating Rice Lake on penalties 11-10 to advance to the D3 state tournament.

Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].