Waupaca receives No. 8 seed
By Greg Seubert
The Waupaca girls’ soccer team didn’t record a single win during the regular season, but the Comets aren’t the lowest-seeded team in its WIAA Division 3 state tournament sectional.
That distinction belongs to Antigo, which received a No. 9 seed for the tournament, which got underway May 30.
Waupaca received a No. 8 seed and will open tournament play at No. 2 Shawano at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 1. Another area team, Amherst/Iola-Scandinavia, received a No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Clintonville at 5 p.m. June 1 at the Portage County Youth Soccer field in Stevens Point.
Waupaca wrapped up the regular season May 26 with a 4-1 loss to Amherst/Iola-Scandinavia and by tying Marinette 1-1 May 25 in the North Eastern Conference finale.
Amherst/I-S 4, Waupaca 1
Amherst/I-S scored three unanswered goals in the second half.
Waupaca’ Emma Pagel tied the game at 1-1 four minutes into the second half with an unassisted goal.
“Playing games two days in a row is never a good situation,” coach Mark Polebitski said. “This was a makeup game from earlier in the season and we did not have the legs to keep up. The game got rough and physical, which did not help the situation at all.”
Amherst/I-S outshot the Comets 14-6.
Marinette 1, Waupaca 1
The Marines took a 1-0 lead on Maria Bieberitz’s goal 32 minutes into the game, but Waupaca’s Robin Miller converted a penalty kick in the 71-minute mark for the game’s final score.
“This was our best match to date,” Polebitski said. “Ball possession was improved. A hand ball in the area set up a penalty kick in the 71st minute. Robin placed a hard-driven ball past a diving keeper. It was perfectly played.”
Goalkeeper Kylie Hiddemen stopped 16 of Marinette’s 17 shots.
“Kylie did a great job in the net for us,” Polebitski said. “She made all the routine saves and a couple nice extension dives to keep the game close.”
Polebitski likes his team’s chances at Shawano.
“We played Shawano earlier in the season,” he said. “We got beat 4-0, but had chances to score throughout the match. We are a much better team at this point in the season. It should be a good high school soccer match.”