Getschman leads star-studded Big East trio

A year after the most prolific scorer in high school girls’ soccer history graduated, the Big East Conference still featured plenty of star power.

Cora Erickson scored 247 goals and amassed 569 points, both most all time, but her alma mater’s scoring cupboard was far from bare.

Junior Arden Getschman and senior Gracie Schmidt, who were among the state’s leaders in goals and assists last season, became the go-to weapons, and defenses couldn’t figure out how to stop either one.

Random Lake/Ozaukee picked up sophomore Mya Schroeder, who played club last season and was an unstoppable offensive force.

Getschman and Schroeder earned all-state honorable mention.

They and Schmidt were the highest vote-getters among Big East Conference coaches, earning spots on the first team. At the time votes were cast, Getschman had the best stats, her coach Zac Garza said, and earned Offensive Conference Player of the Year.

“She’s just a complete attacker. I think that’s something that really stands out about her, her ability to punish you in different ways,” Garza said.

Getschman can score with both feet and on breakaways, headers and outside the box. She scored four goals on penalty kicks and four more on direct kicks.

Getschman scored 11 goals in the conference and led the league with 10 assists. She had 34 goals for the season and 24 assists.

Last season, Getschman had 36 goals and 29 assists, one off the school’s single-season assists record, and was named to the Big East first team. As a freshman, she scored 16 goals and had 21 assists.

“She had 20 assists each of the last three years. That’s just crazy, especially this year without Cora,” Garza said.

Schroeder led the conference with 18 goals and was second with seven assists. For the season, she had 52 goals, one behind state leader Helanya Krueger of Xavier, and 13 assists.

Schroder can score with either foot and transformed RLO from primarily a defensive team to an offensive juggernaut, leading the team to a second trip to state.

RLO scored four or more goals in 13 games and won the Big East title with a 7-0-1 record, stopping Cedar Grove-Belgium’s streak of conference crowns dating to 2019. RLO nearly lost to Howards Grove, but Schroeder scored with less than 10 seconds to play to tie the game at 2.

“I refer to her as a true finisher, able to take the top off of any defense even when being marked with two to three defenders most of the time,” coach Matt Wilson said. “She understands timing, positioning and angles when making her runs on her attack, and she’s also very good at setting opposing players up to create opportunities, whether it’s for herself or for her fellow teammates. She has great vision and understanding of the game.”

Schroeder also never quits.

“She has a motor that plays to the whistle no matter what, and is very strong mentally. She has the ability to strike from outside the 18 with her power and accuracy,” Wilson said.

Schmidt was third with 12 goals in the Big East, and tied for third in assists with six. For the season, she had 35 goals and 21 assists.

She scored in the final 90 seconds of regulation to tie St. Thomas More in a home playoff game and in the final minute of overtime scored the game-winner.

Schmidt had 80 career assists, seventh most in state history, and last year tied the school’s single-season record with 30. She scored 69 career goals.

Garza said Schmidt’s powerful stature looks to be more suitable for a midfielder, but “she was much more creative and explosive than people would expect — the neat little first touches, flicks and turns she was able to put in her arsenal. She was able to separate; two steps and she’s gone.

“Most players I have coached I have some semblance of an idea of their thought process or what’s next. Gracie’s the one player who has made me think, ‘Oh wow, I didn’t think she was going to do that.’”

RLO and the Rockets each had another member named to the Big East first team.

RLO senior midfielder Faith Wilson, the coach’s daughter, was a co-captain for the third straight season. She scored seven goals and had 10 assists.

“She was the heartbeat and the glue of this year’s team, a natural leader and one of the most unselfish players I have ever coached. She is the perfect example of what happens when you take basic soccer, work as hard as you can at it and then mix it with passion for the game and your teammates,” coach Wilson said.

“She was physical and defensively one of the best players I’ve had to take over the 50/50 ball, hold possession and build with it. She was extremely accurate on her through-balls with a great touch. She was a very strong finisher for us from outside the box with her power and accuracy.”

The Rockets’ Tessa Krause was named to the first team at keeper as a freshman.

She and last year’s first-team keeper, senior Aubrey Johnson, split time as they competed for the starting spot, but Johnson broke her foot early in the season and missed the rest of the year. Krause made the most of her opportunity.

“I haven’t had a player receive this much Division 1 attention this early in her career,” Garza said.

Krause had 31 saves and allowed eight goals for a save percentage of 79.5 in 520 minutes.

“She’s absolutely a motivated and fierce competitor. She’ll be the first to tell you her season wasn’t perfect,” Garza said.

But Krause flashed several signs that made her special.

“Her athleticism and goal-keeping abilities are second to none. She’s the most refined keeper in conference,” Garza said.

“Her shot-stopping ability was unbelievable. She would get to some that leaves you shaking your head.”

Krause could also take her own goal kicks, a rarity for a freshman, and she can kick with either foot.

Local quintet named to the second team

RLO’s second-leading scorer, junior Lexi Gruman, scored 12 goals, had 13 assists and was a co-captain in returning from a knee injury.

“She worked really well up front with Mya, coordinating their runs, and she dropped back every now and then to assist the midfield with possession,” Wilson said. “She has great vision and touch on her passes and is not afraid to fight for the 50/50 balls. I would say she’s a better athlete and player since her knee injury, and she was already great at both.”

Freshman Addison Kurlinski made an instant impact at center back, and she scored six goals and had three assists.

“She is a freshman that looks and plays like a senior. She ran our back line, and for a freshman that is pretty impressive. She has a big leg and took all of our goal kicks and free kicks this year outside of 25 to 30 yards, and is very accurate,” Wilson said. “She has the ability to attack from the back line offensively when given space. She does a nice job of distributing and has a really nice touch on her long ball.”

For the Rockets, defender Claire Prinsen stepped into multiple positions and excelled at each one. Prinsen scored two goals and had two assists.

“We only had two players coming back on the back line. We knew that we were going to need her,” Garza said.

Injuries to multiple players had Prinsen moving around.

“She was our Swiss Army knife — right back, center back and right mid. She ended at center mid when Raygan Bialzik went down,” Garza said.

“You would put her at all these different positions and she stepped up and elevated her play. A lot of it is a testament to all of the hard work she puts in during the offseason. I’m just incredibly proud of her and what we’ve seen from her this year.”

The other two Rockets’ second-team selections were freshmen.

Bialzik tore her ACL on May 14 but was still the highest vote-getter on the secondteam, one point from the first team. She had three goals and three assists.

Bialzik played forward her entire career but was moved to midfield to help fill the gaps left by all-conference players Aubrey Marti, Madi Johnson and Kahleah Knight, who graduated.

“She was a revelation for us. We worked through things the first couple of games. From that point on,” Garza said, “she executed the game plan. She did everything we asked of her. It was just so natural. Rarely are there any players on the team where I can just have total confidence they’re going to be OK for the whole game.”

Carissa Konzak, younger sister of 2025 graduate Grace, who finished fourth all time in assists in state history, made her presence known as a defender. She scored one goal and had two assists.

“She was absolutely phenomenal, and she was phenomenal immediately,” Garza said. “She showed her ability to play with authority — incredibly strong one-on-one defender. She distributed, took free kicks out of the back and she communicates very well, which is very rare for a freshman,” Garza said.

Garza said more players would likely have been recognized, but defender Mia Grisolono, who received all-conference honors multiple times, and midfielder/wing Kami Horn were injured for much of the season. Freshman forward/midfielder Polly Lemberg also may have received honors but was lost early to a knee injury.

RLO has two honorable mentions

Sophomore left midfielder Lexi Wilson, the coach’s daughter, scored 10 goals and had four assists.

“Last year she stepped in when Reese Prom went down with injury at the forward position and had a solid freshman year. This year she played her more natural position at left mid and really owned it,” coach Wilson said.

“She is a very good possession player and does a nice job of moving her opponents around and spreading out the field to find space and passing lanes. She has a great cross and does a nice job in positioning on the backside attack offensively. She has such a calm demeanor with the ball and is very sound technically.”

Sophomore defender Abby Depies stepped in and excelled at center back.

“We had plans to start her as a wing defender, but after Chloe Dybul went down with a season-ending knee injury in the second game we moved her to center back.,” Wilson said. “She is a high-energy player with great speed and ability to recover, and is not afraid to get physical in the middle. She really made a big jump from her freshman year with ball skills and the ability to carry the ball and distribute.”

RLO would likely have had more players honored sans injuries. Dybul was named to the first team last year and second team as a sophomore. Prom, a senior forward who was named to the second team last year and honorable mention in 2024, never made it all the way back from a knee injury sustained in May 2025.