Posted: May 18, 2010 |(0) Comments

Mequon — Homestead girls soccer coach Rich Dorn loves the Brookfield East Gusho Memorial Invitational and its high-level competition and first-rate facilities.

He just hates the timing of the grueling three-game affair this late in the season with its possibility of injury and ill-timed events.

That's why, after beating number-one ranked in state Madison Memorial, 2-1, in the semifinals Saturday morning, he pulled the plug on a number of starters as a precaution for the final against Middleton, as the Highlanders dropped a 2-0 decision.

"I just don't like the three-game format this late," he said. "I told the kids early on that subs would play the third game, so we can be rested and ready for the post-season. … Don't get me wrong. I like the prestige of this but with just two weeks to go (before the start of the WIAA tournament), that's when (bad) things happen, and it's not just us, everybody is a bit beat up at this point."

And one can't blame Dorn for that attitude, because the fifth-ranked Highlanders (4-0-1 in North Shore play and 11-3-2 overall) put all their effort into a 4-0 decision over NSC rival and eighth-ranked Whitefish Bay on May 11 that all but clinched the league title for them.

Homestead took on Port in its penultimate league tilt on Tuesday and will host Pius XI at 7 p.m. today and Mukwonago at 6 p.m. Friday in a pair of nonconference tilts.

The Highlanders will close out the North Shore campaign at 7 p.m. Tuesday at always dangerous Germantown.

"That will be a challenge," Dorn said. "We're going to have to earn it."

Homestead beat Muskego on penalty kicks, 2-1 (6-5), in Friday's Gusho quarterfinals before outlasting Memorial, 2-1, in the semifinals.

"We learned a great deal about getting properly warmed up and ready for games," Dorn said. He cited many players' efforts in the tourney, including those of Madeline Bireley, Molly Hobbs, Megan Eisenbrown, Mara Hale, Lindsay Jagla and Morgan Lang.

Break-out half vs. Bay

The Highlanders were warmed up and ready to go on a soggy night against Bay but Dorn still needed to give his team the first two minutes of the halftime break to get over the fact that Zoe Ziegler's neatly turned goal right at the end of the first half crossed the line too late and did not count, sending the Highlanders into the half tied at 0-0.

"Then I told them that they had to get over it," he said. "After that we came out and played."

That the Highlanders did, scoring four unanswered goals in the second session on the soggy and cool night to win the battle for first by a 4-0 count.

"We had to win this one to give ourselves a chance at the North Shore title," said Dorn, whose team was coming off a disappointing, 2-0, loss to defending state champion DSHA just a couple of days before. "They (the Blue Dukes) are a top five team (in the state), and we hadn't beaten a team of that caliber before, so it was very important."

With the win, the Highlanders improved to 4-0-1 in North Shore play while the Blue Dukes fell to 4-1.

Long goal leads to flurry

Jagla opened the scoring by launching a looping shot from more than 40 yards out on the left side that just kept sailing up and over Bay goalie Sarah Platzer's head at the 45:17 mark.

"The odds aren't very great for them but under these conditions the ball seems to sail for miles and it weighs about 100 pounds," Dorn said.

Jagla, just a short time later, made a pivotal stop on Bay's goal-scoring machine Abby Starker, just as the sophomore superstar appeared to be going in for a breakaway. Jagla was as surprised as anyone that her long shot went in.

"Oh wow!" she gasped. "I usually just make some nice crossing passes and get only about one or two goals a season. I must have been due for one. It was just the perfect shot. In a situation like that, it had to be."

Fifteen minutes later, the Highlanders push began in earnest as Krystyna Kudlata, Hale and Tehan all punched in goals in short order.

Jagla admitted that the near-miss at the end of the first half was a major motivator.

"It just really fired us up," she said. "We got our anger out of our system and made some positive changes. ... This was such an important win. We knew that Bay, even before the start of the season, would be very strong with all the people they had coming back.

"We didn't play as well in that DSHA game so it was great to come out here and control the game in the second half and compete with one of the top teams in the state."