DSHA halts Muskego's reign to win sixth WIAA girls soccer state title

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition of the word dynasty is a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time.

The Muskego Warriors girls soccer program has been the very definition of a dynasty, winning the last four WIAA Division 1 state titles, but there’s a new, yet familiar face atop the D1 throne.

Behind goals from Reese Roethe (47:15), Mary Stith (60:00) and Sarah McElherne (72:23), No. 1 Divine Savior Holy Angels (19-2-2) is the new queens of Division 1 with a 3-1 victory June 20 at Uihlein Soccer Park to end No. 3 Muskego’s (14-3-3) reign atop the biggest division in the state and win DSHA’s sixth WIAA gold ball in program history.

It marked the second state title this season for the Greater Metro Conference with Brookfield Central defeating Wauwatosa East in the Division 2 final earlier in the day.

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“It’s a resilient group. We’ve been in tough situations. We play tough schedules and I think we’ve been down in situations, we’ve had leads that we’ve given away,” DSHA head coach Steve Lawrence said.

“We’ve just been in every moment and it was great to see the girls use experience and kinda come back and get a goal right back and then finish the game off.”

A four-goal second half was preceded by a scoreless first half that was about as eventful as a no-goal half could be with a saved penalty attempt from Muskego senior keeper Savannah Mittelstaedt at the 32:20 mark on McElherne. Almost three game minutes later, Roethe walloped the woodwork with a shot past a charging Mittelstaedt as the match stayed 0-0 into the halftime intermission.

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“Savannah’s a great keeper. We knew it was going to be hard to score goals against her,” Lawrence said. “We felt the last 15 minutes of the [first] half, we started controlling the game a little bit and settling down into the game. I thought we were a little panicky in the first 10 to 15 [minutes] and some of that’s due to Muskego’s pressure, but we felt good coming into halftime, knowing we were trading chances and if we kept doing what we were doing, chances were going to come and we got those shots.”

Roethe responded in a massive way as the freshman curled a wonderful effort around the diving Mittelstaedt to give the Dashers a 1-0 lead at the 47:15 mark. The future DePaul Blue Demon made eight saves with most of them feeling crucial in the flow of the game, but the freshman got the better of the all-state keeper to open the scoring.

“I had my mindset on scoring,” Roethe said. “I feel like I really wanted to score, so I kinda just put my head down, dribbled, saw an opportunity to score and took it.”

The four-time defending champions were down, but not out. Junior midfielder Taylor Collins unleashed a rocket that scraped the bottom of the crossbar past DSHA goalkeeper Caitlin Caprez’s reach to level the match at 1-1 at the 59:46 mark and kickstart the wildest sequence of the match.

From the ensuing kickoff and 14 game seconds later, senior forward Stith gave DSHA an immediate 2-1 advantage off an assist from Reese’s older sister Avery for her ninth goal of the season.

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“Obviously, when you’re up 1-0 and they come and score, you kinda get into a mindset of, ‘OK, what are we gonna do next? How are we gonna get it back,’ ” Stith said.

“I was thinking that immediately, so my goal was just to get the ball to the back of the net. I saw the run and I just went for it, and I think that’s kind of what this whole season has been for me is just going for it.”

McElherne redeemed her earlier penalty miss with one of the biggest goals of the season as she placed a right-footed shot past Mittelstaedt for a two-goal lead the Dashers wouldn’t relinquish in the final eight-plus minutes to slay the dragon.

“Amazing. I almost couldn’t believe it,” Roethe said on touching the gold ball for the first time.

“We all kinda stood there just looking at each other,” Stith added. “I think the moments on the field too, when we scored, were really the moments we’re like, ‘Wow, this is where the work paid off.’ ”

For Muskego, one of the greatest runs in state history comes to a close, but four gold balls and a silver ball in a five-year period is something for which Warriors coach Lance Matthews has an endless amount of gratitude.

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“The girls fought so hard,” Matthews said. “We came here for DSHA’s best game and that’s exactly what they gave us. They played their hearts out, we played our hearts out. Today, it wasn’t quite enough, but nothing but pride for this group.”

The Warriors became the first school since Brookfield Central to win four straight Division 1 state titles (2002-05) last year and made their sixth appearance at state since 2019 this year. The title match defeat marked the first loss for the Warriors at a state tournament since a 3-0 defeat to Sheboygan North in the 2018 D1 semifinal round.

“The gratitude is off the charts for our community, our people, our parents, these girls,” Matthews said. “The support is immense. Everywhere we look, there are people that have our back, that work for us, that work with us, that fight tooth and nail to get us where we want to go and they set us up for success. We put in the work and they support us along the way and the girls get great moments like [today’s] state championship.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: DSHA tops Muskego to win WIAA D1 high school girls soccer title