With a pair of shutout losses last week the Platteville/Lancaster boys’ soccer team fell to 1–5 this season.
     The Hillmen were first blanked in a 2–0 loss at Monroe last Tuesday before being shut out at home on Thursday by Dodgeville/Mineral Point 1–0.
     “Obviously we haven’t been getting results yet,” said first-year Hillmen coach Brandon Pink. “The guys and I are frustrated by this because we’ve been playing better than our results show. We have high expectations and we know we have the ability to hit them. We’ve shown improvement already this season, and we’re proud of that, but we also know we have to get better.”
     Platteville/Lancaster (1–5, 1–2 SWC) has scored just four goals in its six matches this year and has been shut out in all five of its losses.
     “We’re going to put these results behind us, but we’re also going to keep working toward the level
we want to be at,” added Pink. “The great thing about this group of players is that they’re not discouraged. They’re impatient to be at that level, but they understand that it’s a process and that they’ll have to stay patient and keep working hard.”
     In Tuesday’s loss Monroe used its athletic advantage on the wings to turn several runs into scoring chances.
     Blake Duffy scored on a pass from Alex Hendrickson in the 38th minute to break a scoreless tie.
     Taylor Teasdale added an insurance goal on an assist from Kevin Noriega in the 62nd minute.
     “Up top and on wings they were very quick, and they exploited this advantage all night,” said Pink.  “They were constantly making penetrating runs and passes.  They put our defenders under pressure all night.  Our midfield was better on the night, but we just couldn’t turn our superiority in the middle into pressure on their goal.”
     In Thursday’s loss the visiting Dodgers (2–2, 2–0 SWC)  scored the game’s lone goal when Taylor Fingerson dribbled through the heart of the Hillmen defense and flicked a quick pass to Jonah Lassaneke.
     Lassaneke corralled the pass and ripped a shot past Platteville/Lancaster goalie Colin Salzmann for the 1–0 at the 13:07 mark of the first half.
     The Hillmen went on to outshot the visitors 16–10, but couldn’t capitalize on any of their 16 shots on goal.
     “We’re very disappointed to have lost this game,” said Pink. “We outplayed them in just about every category imaginable, but once again we could not find a way to put the ball in the back of the net. We generated more chances than we did at Monroe on Tuesday, and in general the attacking play was better, but our finishing really let us down. The game was ours for the taking, but we couldn’t seize the opportunity.”

Monroe 2, Platteville/Lancaster 0
(from Tuesday, Aug. 28 @ Monroe)
Platteville/Lancaster        0    0        —    0
Monroe                            1    1        —    2
First half
M: Blake Duffy (Alex Hendrickson) 38:00.
Second half
M: Taylor Teasdale (Kevin Noriega) 62:00.
Saves: P: Colin Salzmann 16; M: Lucas Koch 4. Shots on goal: P/L: 4; M: 18. Corner kicks: P/L: 1; M: 10.

Dodgeville/Mineral Point 1, Platteville/Lancaster 0
(from Thursday, Aug. 30 @ Platteville)
Dodgeville/Mineral Point    1    0        —    1
Platteville/Lancaster            0    0        —    0
First half
D/MP: Jonah Lassaneke (Taylor Fingerson) 13:07.
Second half
None
Saves: P/L: Colin Salzmann 9; D/MP: Steve Stadler 16. Shots on goal: P/L: 16; D/MP: 10. Corner kicks: P/L: 7; D/MP: 6.