Second-half comeback yields plaque for Grafton

Grafton High School’s girls’ soccer team had been here before.

Trailing 1-0 in the second half to Whitnall in a Division 3 regional final at home last Saturday, the top-seeded Black Hawks weren’t going to let this one get away.

They kept firing, creating scoring chance after scoring chance with only near misses to show for it. It was becoming eerily similar to what happened in a 1-0 loss at Port Washington last month.

Then in the 57th minute, junior Ava Dotson jumped to kick a high-bouncing ball over Whitnall’s keeper. The game was tied, but the top-seeded Hawks had the lead in momentum and energy over the 8-seed.

Four minutes later, leading scorer Katelyn Valenta booted in a rebound.

The 2-1 score held. Grafton won its first regional title under coach Jason Rogers and its first since 2019.

“Oh my gosh it means so much. From where we came from my freshman year to now it’s just such a big improvement and I’m just so proud of everyone for never giving up and keep going,” senior midfielder Brayleigh Sumner said.

“It means even more considering last year we were so close and lost in penalty kicks, so that just made this that much better and exciting.”

The Hawks lost the regional title game at Kettle Moraine Lutheran in penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie in regulation and overtime.

“It’s so incredible. I get emotional thinking about Brayleigh and me freshman year, all the games we would lose. Now we have a regional title. It’s unreal to me,” senior defender Olivia Ruff said.

“It means so much. The way we were able to come back from that half being down and bring back our energy right away and just turn the game around. It’s such a growth from years prior.”

Rogers admitted he acquired a “few more gray hairs today” in a game that at first wasn’t going the Black Hawks’ way.

“Our talk at halftime wasn’t anything about more effort; it was just stay the course. ‘Keep playing your game. You’re going to get opportunities. You had opportunities in the first half,’” he said.

Dotson said that’s what the team did.

“We just had to keep to our standards. We know what we’re capable of. We just kept with our playing style. We didn’t change anything,” she said. “We just wanted to calm down and eventually when we scored that first goal we got a lot of momentum.”

Valenta agreed that the first goal was key.

“We knew we had to get one early to shift the momentum. Time was going to come where we were going to score,” she said. “We created so many chances in the first half and couldn’t put any away. We knew one was going to go in the back of the net and we were going to get more.”

The Hawks’ defense had only allowed a penalty kick goal, but the Falcons had a few close calls. Early in the first half, a ball hit the crossbar and Grafton keeper Lily Verplancke saved a header, then punched the ball away as she fell forward.

In the 66th minute, another shot bounced off the crossbar, then into the air and Verplancke quickly snagged it.

“I thought that was in but then when it hit, I was like OK, now I’ve got to get it and get it up to the team,” she said.

Verplancke was filling in for starting keeper Paige Proefrock, who has missed time due to volleyball tournaments.

“Her height came in handy. She made some real big saves,” Rogers said.

Junior defender Josie Goetz praised her teammates for the second-half effort.

“I give a lot of credit to our forwards to come back from that. And everyone on the back line — I need to give credit to them — that’s a lot of work to keep no goals for 40 minutes,” she said.

“We just pushed each other to be better. That’s kind of a big motivation for all of us because we want to do it for each other and our seniors that mean so much to us.”

She is thrilled to add a plaque to the school’s wall.

“I’ve been on this team three years starting, from the bottom up. We weren’t as good my freshman year. This was a big accomplishment. It means so much to us,” she said.

Rogers said the title means more to the girls than the coaching staff.

“We love to have this. We set a goal out this year; this is just a step in the direction to it,” he said.

“‘Hey enjoy this, but the job’s not done,’” he told his team.

Rogers is familiar with regional titles as a player, winning multiple plaques with Nicolet. He is going to have each player sign the back of this one.

“It’s fun to hang a plaque. It’s a memory for a lifetime. I still go to my old high school and I look for the plaques,” he said.

Grafton reached the regional final by beating Campbellsport, 10-0, on June 4.

Valenta had three goals and one assist. Mila Dotson had two goals and two assists. Sumner had a goal and two assists. Verplancke had a goal and an assist. Ruff, Mia Knetter and Brooklyn LaMontagne each had a goal. Abby Widmann and Sierra Javorski each had an assist.

The Hawks, 14-3, host No. 4 New Berlin West, 11-4-2, at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11. The winner plays in a sectional final at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at Cedar Grove-Belgium.