Erickson, Bahr rule Big East for one last time

A third straight perfect conference season produced a plethora of Big East honors for the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ soccer team.

Senior Cora Erickson, who broke the state’s all time goals and points records this season, was named Offensive Player of the Year for the fourth straight season.

Her league numbers were down this season due to the fact that teams were scheming with everything they had to prevent her from scoring and because a few of her teammates are developing into stars.

Erickson scored 16 goals compared to 25, 25 and 22 the past three seasons. She had five assists after seven, 10 and five in the past three years.

For the season, she scored 60 goals (second in the state) and had 19 assists. She has 247 goals, 75 assists  (tied for seventh all time) and 569 points (two points per goal and one per assist) in her career.

She was named Girls Soccer Player of the Year in the Northeast Wisconsin High School Sports Awards — she got her photo taken with Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary, the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony — and was named to the all-state second team after earning first-team honors last season. 

“I honestly just don’t even know if I have any more adjectives left in my arsenal that I could use to describe Cora or the impact she had on our program. Her clean sweep of top player in the conference was something that I have certainly never seen before, but it is something that was well deserved,” coach Zac Garza said.

“She’s an incredible player and we’re incredibly blessed to have her walk these halls and play on this field and to watch her do what she did. It’s certainly the end of an era. I’m sure other teams are glad she’s gone.”

During her high school career, Erickson averaged 2.93 goals per game and 0.9 assists per game in the Big East.

Erickson’s impact on the program, Garza said, can be seen in more than just numbers, honors and medals.

“You can see the mark she left on these players. Youth players in the stands are saying, ‘I want that to be me. I want to be scoring those goals when I get into high school,’” he said.

“Even the impact she had on Arden (Getschman), who was just unbelievable this year, and I think a large part of that was being able to play with and train with Cora every day and see the things that she does. Now, hopefully Arden can take up that mantle.”

Erickson’s counterpart, Olivia Bahr, was named Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season. She has been the Rockets’ last line of defense before the keeper, and the team has allowed nine goals in a combined 22 league games the last three years (0.4 average).

“Cora and Liv were kind of our 1-2 punch. Cora is the most dominant attacker we’ve ever had, and Liv is the most dominant defensive player we’ve ever had,” Garza said.

Bahr was named to the Big East first team all four seasons and received the second most votes the past three years behind her teammate. She was named an all-state honorable mention the past two seasons.

“I think this paints the picture of how good Liv is. It’s just an unbelievable thought to consider that we had the top two players in the conference on our team over the last three seasons,” Garza said.

Senior midfielder Aubrey Marti was named to the first team for the third straight season. She scored three goals and had three assists in league play and eight goals and 11 assists for the season, and she was an aggressive catalyst for the Rockets’ offense.

“I’ve said this countless times, but Aubrey was the engine that kept our machine going. She would run and run and run and consistently put effort in on both sides of the ball,” Garza said.

“We’ve been blessed to have players like Kelsey Lukens, Payton Navis, Lizzie Luebke and now Aubrey Marti who are willing and able to put enough miles in for two players.”

Getschman, who came off an impressive freshman season with 16 goals and 21 assists, vaulted to star status with 36 goals and 29 assists, one off the school’s single-season assists record. She was the third Rocket named to the first team with Erickson and Bahr.

“Each of those tallies would place her amongst the state’s elite in either of those categories on their own. She managed to do both at the same time,” Garza said. “Arden is a tremendous talent, a unanimous first team selection as a sophomore, and I could not be more excited to see how she continues to develop over the coming years.”

Junior keeper Aubrey Johnson broke the school’s career shutouts record this season — she has 32 to Brooke Braga’s 30 over three seasons due to the pandemic — and racked up 11 this year. She made 53 saves — a low total since the Rockets’ offense kept attacking nearly the entire game — and allowed 19 goals.

“She continued to improve in arguably the most important aspect of goalkeeping, her confidence and ownership of her position. We could hear Aubrey being more vocal from the back. She would address the team with more confidence, and we continued to see her growth as a leader in the back,” Garza said. “That is something that is so significant when you have a goalkeeper who doesn’t have a lot of size. Aubrey may not be the tallest keeper in the world, but she plays big.”

Senior Grace Konzak, who set the Rockets’ single-season record with 30 assists in 2023, had 12 goals and 23 assists. She finished with 84 career assists, tied for fourth in state history. This season, her team’s star power moved her to second team after two years on first.

“We just had so many players play at a top level that it was always going to be tough for them all. That should not take away from the fact that Grace had an amazing career,” Garza said. “She always had such an incredible eye for a killer pass, and she always seemed to be thinking two steps ahead of everyone else. And let’s not forget her abilities as a free kick specialist. She will surely be missed.”

Junior midfielder Gracie Schmidt tied Konzak’s single-season record with 30 assists, and she scored 17 goals. She was named to the second team after honorable mention last year.

“Gracie is a player that is so fun to watch because she is so creative and thinks like nobody else on the pitch. Her fancy flicks and first touches often catch opposing teams (and even our own team) by surprise and her energy is infectious,” Garza said. “She is the type of player that her teammates want to play harder for. She makes others better.”

Junior defender Mia Grisolono earned honorable mention for the third straight season.

“Mia is another player who ‘suffers’ from being on such a talented squad. She is a warrior and an incredible defender that was certainly deserving of more than honorable mention,” Garza said.

“Her distribution out of the back took a tremendous step forward this season to go with her strong defensive abilities. I am excited to see what the offseason holds for Mia and how she comes into next spring because she is going to be our new leader in the back.”

Cedar Valley Girls earn six selections

Division 4 silver-ball winning Random Lake/Ozaukee took third in the Big East with a 4-2-1 record and caught fire in the playoffs, going all the way to the title game.

That regular season success in the second year of the co-op and under new coach Matt Wilson, who also coaches the RLO boys’ co-op, helped earn six all-conference selections.

Senior Kamrin Kunz was an all-around threat in the midfield. She tied for second on the team with nine goals and six assists. She was named to the first team for the second straight season after earning a spot on the second team as a sophomore.

“Kamrin is a force in the middle of the field and has the ability and endurance to play between the 18’s as a defensive mid with the ability to attack and finish on offense,” Wilson said.

“She is not a big talker but instead proves her worth through her play, and she does it with a lot of passion.”

Junior defender and team co-captain Chloe Dybul joined Kunz on the first team after being named to the second team last season. The squad only allowed nine goals in seven games in the Big East, and only four goals in six playoff games. Despite playing defense, Dybul scored four goals on the year.

“She makes all the calls and runs our defensive line unit. She fills the job description of team captain perfectly. She knows the game extremely well and is a major voice for our players on the field,” Wilson said.

“She is a defensive center back but plays like a center mid. She’s solid on defense and has the ability to attack and finish on offense. She also takes all of our free kicks and threatens to score directly with a great touch on the ball and power to go with it.”

Versatile senior center back Baszonia Neumann was named to the second team.

“Baszonia can be played anywhere on the field and she will find success. She has elite speed and would track down anything that went past our defensive line and turn it back upfield,” Wilson said.

“She’s also able to distribute the ball efficiently to mids and forwards for an attack. She could hold down our defensive back line when the other center back went up for an attack. She is a great leader despite not being a captain.”

Three Cedar Valley Girls, as the team calls itself since the cheese factory of the same name is between Fredonia and Random Lake, earned honorable mention.

Madie Prom tied for second on the team with nine goals and led the team with seven assists. She was named to the second team in 2022 and could have had more honors if she hadn’t injured her knee during her career.

Prom was a co-captain and left attacking midfielder who moved to right forward for the second half of the season after her younger sister Reese got hurt.

“She knows the game, has excellent ball skills and plays with her head up. She’s always talking on the field and running our front line,” Wilson said. “She’s able to hold possession and use her teammates when the scoring opportunity is not there, and she also took a lot of our corner kicks from the right side.”

Keeper Rebecca Kraemer made 138 saves and allowed 27 goals in 1,500 minutes and logged eight shutouts. In the playoffs, she helped the team win two nail-biting shootouts, including the state semifinal.

“She’s small in frame but plays like a 6-foot, 2-inch goalkeeper. She has excellent reflexes and has learned this season how to be a voice on the field and help out her defense,” Wilson said.

“In the second half of the season, she really stepped up with her play and leadership. She can punt the ball to the 50-yard line on average. Rebecca stepped in last year as a backup for varsity but only saw action in two games. Before that, she hadn’t played goalkeeper since eighth grade.”

Right forward Reese Prom, who was named to the second team last year and earned honorable mention two years ago, again got honorable mention despite suffering a season-ending knee injury on May 8.

Despite missing the last 14 games, she still managed to tie for second on the team with nine goals and six assists.

“She’s the best forward I have ever had the opportunity to coach. She has speed, great ball skills, knowledge of the game, is unselfish and can hold possession if the shot is not there for her to take,” Wilson said.

“She plays with her head up and looks to make a pass more often then she should. She was taking all of our corner kicks from the right side until she was injured.”

Prom said she was proud of her team’s playoff run as she witnessed it on crutches.

“It’s been hard just watching. They came together as a team really well. It’s hard to adapt after an injury for anybody,” she said.

She looks forward to her senior year.

 “I’m so excited. I’m glad to be back. It really puts everything in perspective. Don’t take anything for granted,” she said.