De Pere's run at state title falls short, 1-0

MILWAUKEE - The De Pere girls soccer team entered Saturday's Division 1 state soocer final on some kind of run.

In its last 13 games, no team beat the Redbirds, who had outscored their opponents, 56-2, during that stretch. So De Pere entered Saturday's championship contest confident it could win the program's first soccer title against Madison West, which had won four titles.

But what seems to happen a lot in championship soccer games is one mistake is the difference and that was the case Saturday. De Pere mishandled the ball in its half of the field and Rose Brown gained control and fired a shot from the right side outside the goal box and beat Megan Lindstrom for the game's only goal as De Pere fell, 1-0, at Uihlein Soccer Park.

"We were talking about it before we came out," De Pere coach Trisha Rhodes said. "It's a tale of two really good defensive teams. It was our defenses that hung on. We get a goal and we hold it. Both teams would do it.

"They captialized on our mistake. We couldn't get one back."

Wind is a factor
The goal came at 48 minutes, 53 seconds. De Pere was trying to clear its end but wasn't able to advance the ball which bounced left. Brown then gained control of the ball and took her shot.

With the wind at Brown's back, the ball kept going and Lindstrom was beaten high by a shot that no goalkeeper likely could've stopped.

"She shot it from the outside and with the wind coming I just couldn't get up high enough," Lindstrom said.

The wind turned out to be a factor in the game. While it didn't dictate which team controlled the ball, the statistics show it was helpful when the wind was at the team's back.

In the first half, De Pere had the wind at its back and had multiple scoring chances while holding a 7-2 advantage of shots on goal. Not included in the stat was a free kick that hit the crossbar.

Then in the second half, West held a 7-3 edge on shots on goal.

"The wind picked up as the game went on," Rhodes said. "We had our chances. We had our chances against the wind. It played a factor."

"We didn't use it enough in the first half; we didn't use it to our advantage," Lindstrom said of the wind. "That's what they did and what worked for them."

1-0 game was likely
Based on what Rhodes knew of West and how her team plays defense, she felt the game would end 1-0. Unfortunately, she was right.

She felt the defenses were too good to get two goals on. De Pere had allowed two total goals in its last 13 games while West held its final five opponents, including De Pere, to one goal or less.

"Both teams knew how to hold a one-game lead," Rhodes said. "Their defense did a phenomenal job; they cleared it out. They didn't make mistakes; they just cleared it out of their back end."

Tough start for De Pere
About 10 seconds into the game, West almost scored, when a shot just went over the crossbar. Later there was a skirmish in front of the goal but De Pere managed to clear the ball.

After the ball was advanced, Lindstrom was lying on the field in pain less than two minutes into the game. Rhodes said Lindstrom heard her knee pop and thought she tore her anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.

She went to the sideline and tested the knee and returned less than eight minutes later.

"It'll be OK," Lindstrom said. "I wanted to come back in. I didn't want to sit the bench my last game."

Future awful bright for Redbirds
Despite the loss, this just might be start of a great run for De Pere. The roster includes nine freshmen, four sophomores and just two seniors.

"We had a young team and all worked hard," said Lindstrom, a junior. "To get to state and place second is a real good accomplishment."

It looks like De Pere should make another state tournament run or two in the next three years, but nothing is guaranteed.

"You never know if you'll get back here," Rhodes said. "It took us five years to get back; you can't take it for granted. You may have lost, but you have to soak up the moment. They're a great team. They did some phenomenal things I'm very proud of."

• Notes: De Pere was 0-2-4 in its three previous state appearances and was runner-up in 2007 after winning two shootouts (shootouts are recorded as ties). ... Neenah was the last team to beat De Pere, May 12. ... No Green Bay-area team has ever won a Division 1 state girls soccer title.
• Game ball: Lindstrom, whose toughness was impressive.
• Numbers game: 2 Times De Pere has been a state runner-up.

Records: De Pere 21-5-3; Madison West 18-7-2.

Click link for complete boxscore: http://www.wiaawi.org/results/soccergirls/2012/d1game7.htm

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

doug.ritchay@wluk.com