Holmes’ late score gives Pirates final victory at home

Someone was going to have to step up and make a play because the Port Washington High School girls’ soccer team didn’t want to go another 20 minutes in overtime in the heat against Kewaskum at home last Thursday.

Enter Libby Holmes.

The senior who has been battling illness found the back of Kewaskum’s net from mid-range with less than eight minutes to play, and the Pirates held on for a 1-0 Division 3 regional semifinal win.

“I knew I could have shot it off the first touch, but I was like ‘Screw it, I’ll go in a little more.’ I thought I could get around her and I did, so that was good,” Holmes said.

Holmes just turned away from the goal and slowly walked back toward midfield. She got high fives, but most players were too tired to do much celebrating.

“She’s a fighter,” coach Sandy Bennett said.

The goal broke a 150-minute scoreless streak with Kewaskum after Port tied the Indians, 0-0, on May 21 when the Pirates had some players leave midway through for other commitments.

This time, Port triggered more scoring opportunities than the Indians but had nothing to show for it until late.

“It’s just one of those games where we know we have a game plan and it’s just not going our way,” Bennett said. “The ball stopped on the goal line in the corner of the goal. We’re shooting right to the goalie.”

The Pirates picked up the pressure on offense as the game wore on.

“I think we all just kind of woke up a little bit and realized we’ve gotta play so we don’t have to do an extra 20 minutes and penalty kicks,” senior Payton Wysocki said.

“I think the thing is obviously we knew what would happen if we didn’t win,” senior Madi Uselding said. “We have a tendency when we get behind to play a little sloppy, but we kept it calm. We made our passes, and Libby had a great shot into the goal.”

Port last Saturday lost in a regional final to Shorewood, 2-1.

Kamryn Knaub scored on a penalty kick for Port. All the goals came in the first half.

“We played very well. We had two breakdowns, and that’s when Shorewood took advantage of them,” Bennett said. “We had some good passing and possession throughout the game, but again couldn’t finish when we had the chances.”

Port finished the season 6-3-1 in the Glacier Trails Conference and 9-5-3 overall.