News

Since our last update on 5/2/22, the MHS Boys Lacrosse team has played eight games, going 4 and 3 with one tie. Mounting injuries have devastated the squad, dropping them from number three in the state to number eight. Still, they are in a position to win the Big Badger Conference if they can run the table against their remaining conference schedule: DeForest, Janesville, and Oregon.

Here is a rundown of the recent games.

@ Verona on 5/3 — Win — 13-5

The Cardinals entered this game in a familiar position – Senior Mike Roach out due to illness, but Sophomore Tyler Ludtke filling in admirably. The Cardinals rolled to victory 13-5 behind the four goals scored by the Cardinal’s top attack, Sophomore Parker Leslie, and the 83% win rate in face off’s from Will O’Brien.

vs. Sauk Prairie on 5/6 — Win — 6-3

The day before this conference matchup, Parker Leslie took a blow to the head during a standard 1-on-1 drill and entered concussion protocol. Still, Mike Roach returned, and the Cardinals pulled off a defensive win shutting down Sauk Prairie 6-3 behind Senior Goalie Jace Bauer’s 83% save rate on the day and Senior Colin Keenan closing out the late game faceoffs winning 3 out of 4.

@ Lake Forest on 5/7 — Loss — 8-13

Parker Leslie remained out, but the injury bug spread to Jace Bauer, who had pulled his trapezius in the game versus Sauk Prairie. Bauer tried to gut it out but couldn’t make the saves that usually are second nature to him as the Cards fell to the 70th ranked (nationally) Lake Forest squad 8 to 13.

vs. Pacelli United on 5/9 — Win — 14-13

Going into this game, the Cardinals had three starters on IR: Bauer, Leslie, and Junior two-way Midfielder Joe Schwartz. The tandem of Sophomore Goalie Tony Peters and Senior Stephen Nemr was called on to replace Bauer and they performed exceptionally well, especially considering it was the first varsity ‘start’ for both. However, the highlight of the evening was Sophomore James Grosspietsch who landed “Player of the Game” honors as he tied a school record of Goals in a Game (7; joining Kevin Grelle from 2019 and Gabe Passini from earlier this year) and Points in a Game (9; tying Grelle and Drew Teff from 2019). His offensive outburst was enough to eke out a 14 to 13 win against the surging Pacelli United team.

vs. Kettle Moraine on 5/12 — Tie — 9-9 in double overtime

Given this was the first rematch of the 2019 State Championship game, both sides wanted to prove something. Sadly the Cards still had four players on IR — Bauer, Leslie, Roach, and joining them mid-game, Sophmore long stick defensive midfielder, Gavin Gall. One would think it would be a long day at the office for the Cardinal defensive unit. However, Senior Goalie Stephen Nemr answered the call as he played out of his mind replacing Bauer saving 13 of 22 shots on him that day. His stonewalling of a top-ten team was impressive, considering he only picked up lacrosse over the winter after training with Bauer during that time (the majority of his high school career had been starting in goal for the MHS Soccer squad). His efforts enabled the firepower from Grosspietsch (3), Passini (3), Teff (2), and Johnson (1) to tie the KM squad in a double-overtime bout.

vs. Arrowhead, Hudson, and Kimberly on 5/14 — 3 Losses — 11-13, 5-17, 8-10

The Cardinals went up to the statewide Badger Invite tournament on 5/14 to take on three opponents (2 ranked). With three games in one day, it was a lousy time to have the majority of your starters dealing with IR. Defensively, the Cards had five out of their seven starters out or limited: Bauer (G), Roach (Def), Wenning (Def), Revord (Mid), and Gall (Mid). Offensively, it wasn’t much better with three of six starters dinged up: Leslie (Atk), Johnson (Atk), and Millard (Atk). The bright spot of the three-game tournament was James Grosspietsch, who averaged nearly three goals a game over the three contests. In addition, many of the younger JV Cardinals got a ton of minutes vying against two of the top five teams (number 1 Hudson and number 5 Arrowhead). Taken in context the Cardinals performed admirably this day.

The team believes most of the injury situation, except Bauer, will clear up by their game with DeForest on 5/19.