MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (May 27–June 3)
SWC GIRLS SOCCER: Platteville/Lancaster 4, River Valley 1
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Hillmen get help, then top Blackhawks to win SWC title
SPRING GREEN — Platteville/Lancaster’s dream of a Southwest Wisconsin Conference girls soccer title seemed to be dashed following a 1–0 loss to visiting Dodgeville/Mineral Point on May 15.
The Hillmen fell a game and a half behind league-leading River Valley that night with just two matches left in the conference season. But the Platteville co-op got a huge helping hand when Prairie du Chien/River Ridge/Seneca played Valley to a 1–1 draw May 22. The tie opened the door and the Hillmen came crashing in.
Coach Brandon Pink’s Platteville/Lancaster took care of its own business with a dominating 8–0 shutout win at Richland Center last Tuesday to set the stage for a conference title match at River Valley. The Hillmen then outdueled the host Blackhawks 4–1 in Thursday’s conference finale to claim this year’s SWC title.
Platteville/Lancaster won on shared seven-straight conference titles from 2016–23 before Dodgeville/Mineral Point ended that run a year ago. The Hillmen (13–3–2) finished 8–2 in the conference (24 points) to finish one point up on River Valley (12–3–4, 7–1–2).
Sophomore Katie Murphy scored the game’s first goal on an assist by junior Maddy Jacquinot, then the sister duo of senior Miriam Goomey and freshman Chara Goomey teamed up to give the Hillmen a 2–0 lead.
River Valley’s Karina Osborn scored late in the first half to make it 2–1 at the half, but Chara Goomey (assisted by Murphy) scored early in the second half, and Miriam added a penalty kick later on to provide another insurance goal. Junior Anna Pennekamp made five saves to earn the victory in net for the Hillmen.
“My first and overriding emotion is one of immense pride in the girls,” said coach Pink. “We obviously have a tradition of taking home the conference title, and that made the results of last season hard to take. The girls took that to heart over the summer and the offseason, and hit the weight room and practice field hard. We knew we were a much better team going into this season than last, but we also knew both Dodge–Point and River Valley returned most of their talent as well, and that it was going to be the most competitive SWC any of us had ever seen.
“A few weeks ago we had our most disappointing result of the year in the 1–0 loss to DodgePoint. Mathematically that didn’t eliminate us, but it meant that we no longer controlled our own destiny. Thank the stars that River Valley dropped points in a 1–1 tie to Prairie du Chien, because that put us back in control of our own destiny.”
Platteville/Lancaster is back in Division 3 this year for the WIAA playoffs, after playing D2 a year ago.
Coach Pink’s No. 4-seeded Hillmen open this year’s WIAA tournament with a D3 regional semifinal game Thursday at home against No. 13 seed Edgerton (5–9–2) at 7 p.m. With a win, Platteville/Lancaster will then host either No. 5 Big Foot/Williams Bay (8–5–3) or No. 12 Whitewater/Palmyra–Eagle (7–7–1) in a D3 regional final on Saturday.
“We feel like we have a great opportunity to make a run this season,” added Pink. “Getting the No. 4 seed means we potentially get to host both regional games, and we feel like we match up well against all of our potential opponents for the first two rounds. We know that we have to do our jobs, and if we do that we have a great shot at lifting a regional championship plaque in front of our home fans.”
Platteville/Lancaster 4, River Valley 1
(from Thursday, May 29 @ Spring Green)
Platteville/Lancaster....2 2 — 4
River Valley....................1 0 — 1
First half — P/L: Katie Murphy (Maddy Jacquinot), Miriam Goomey (Chara Goomey); RV: Karina Osborn.
Second half — PL: C. Goomey (Murphy), M. Goomey (PK).
Saves — P/L: Anna Pennekamp 5, RV: Hannah Burchfield 6. Shots on goal — P/L: 10, RV: 6. Corner kicks — P/L: 3; RV: 0.
