MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (May 24–31)
SWC Girls Soccer: Platteville/Lancaster 2, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 1
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal
DODGEVILLE — A pair of clutch goals in the final five minutes lifted the Platteville/Lancaster girls soccer team to a dramatic conference-title clinching 2–1 victory at second-place Dodgeville/Mineral Point last Tuesday.
Platteville/Lancaster forwards junior Brooke VonGlahn (75’) and senior Izzy Condiff (77’) tallied goals to complete an amazing comeback and lift the Hillmen (12–4–1, 9–0–1) to a sixth straight Southwest Wisconsin Conference title.
“We are very proud of this achievement,” said Hillmen head coach Brandon Pink. “Winning the conference six straight years speaks to the hard work and dedication from everyone involved in the program. The standard of the SWC was so much higher than normal this year, so although a title is always an achievement, we feel extra proud of this. Dodge–Point really made us work for it on Tuesday, but it’s like I’ve been saying to the girls all season, ‘trust in the process, believe in ourselves, keep plugging away, and good things will happen.’ We had to dig deep in that final five minutes but we pulled through, and that’s got our confidence sky high going into the postseason.”
The Dodgers (11–5–3, 7–1–2 SWC) entered last week’s SWC showdown with a chance to end the Platteville co-op’s five-year reign as conference champion with a win, and for 70-plus minutes it looked like that was going to come to fruition.
Ella Grunow scored early in the second half on an assist by Ava Hying to give the host Dodgers a slim 1–0 lead.
The Hillmen controlled possession most of the match and finished with a substantial 21–7 advantage in totals shots, but after the first goal, Dodge–Point was content to pack it in on defense in an attempt to hold on for a one-goal victory.
The strategy nearly paid off and Platteville/Lancaster fans were on the edge of their seats in fear the conference title was slipping away.
Finally in the 75th minute, VonGlahn broke through on an assist by freshman midfielder Mirian Goomey to even the match.
A tie would have given the Hillmen the outright league title, but with the momentum Platteville/Lancaster stayed on the attack.
Two minutes later Condiff scored an unassisted goal with less than three minutes remaining for the game-winner.
Senior goalie Leah Hammill made four saves in the win for the Hillmen. Dodge–Point’s Sarah Johnson turned away 13 shots to keep the Dodgers in the match throughout.
Last Thursday’s non-conference match at Mount Horeb was rained out and will not be rescheduled.
Platteville/Lancaster earned the fifth seed in its sectional and will host 12th seed Whitewater/Palmyra–Eagle in a WIA Division 3 regional semifinal Thursday at 5 p.m. at Platteville High School.
The winner will advance to Saturday’s regional final against either fourth seed Sugar River (14–3–1) or 13th seed Monroe (2–13–1).
The Hillmen suffered a pair of losses to Sugar River (3–0 April 23 and 1–0 April 30) during the regular season and beat Monroe 4–0 on April 18.
Platteville/Lancaster 2, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 1
(from Tuesday, May 24 @ Dodgeville)
Platteville/Lancaster...........0 2 — 2
Dodgeville/Mineral Point...0 1 — 1
First half — none.
Second half — D/MP: Ella Grunow (Ava Hying) 44:00. P/L: Brooke Von Glahn (Miriam Goomey) 75:00, Izzy Condiff 77:00.
Saves — P/L: Leah Hammill 4, D/MP: Sarah Johnson 13. Total Shots — P/L: 21, D/MP: 7. Corner kicks — P/L: 5, D/MP: 2.
