MEQUON 鈥 Homestead scored early, Cedarburg netted the equalizer late and the North Shore Conference rivals settled for a 1-1 draw Tuesday in the league opener for each club.
"I think it was stressful for them to have to chase a goal for 78 minutes and I think it was stressful for us to hang onto it," Homestead head coach Kelly Denk said afterward.
The Highlanders wasted little time taking the lead. Junior Sophie Rater put the home team on the board 1 minute, 50 seconds into the match with a goal that showcased her speed.
"She just has incredible pace. That鈥檚 kind of her story as an athlete, as a player. She just kind of has a burst of speed that鈥檚 unique to her and she just sort of picked the ball off and then you just saw a burst of speed that people couldn鈥檛 match," Denk said. "She鈥檚 hard to catch once she gets in behind you. That paid off for her today."
Getting out to a fast start was a point of emphasis for Homestead.
"We talked a lot about how this is our house and this is our place and that we always get up for Cedarburg," Denk said. "An 0-2 start to the season was disappointing. We鈥檙e starting seven underclassmen, so we know that we鈥檙e going to have some growing pains early, but we really talked about this being a game where we wanted to show up early and kind of defend our house. I think that mentality translated into the first five minutes of the game."
Cedarburg head coach Robert Williams was not surprised that the Highlanders came out on a mission.
"Homestead is well coached. I knew after two losses they were going to come and play and Kelly was going to have them organized," he said. "I give her so much credit. She does such a good job and doesn鈥檛 get the credit that she deserves. I think she out-coached me today, I think her team outplayed us, but we had that fight that we just wouldn鈥檛 give up at the end."
Denk noted the nice thing about scoring an early goal is that you have the lead, but the other side of the coin is that there is still a lot of time remaining in the match at that point.
"We got an early one, which always feels good but at the same time you look at the clock and realize that you have 78 more minutes to go, so it doesn鈥檛 feel too good," she said.
While Homestead had exactly the start it wanted, Williams felt that he may have put his side in a bad position from the start.
"I think I made it harder for them. I apologized to my team. I felt like my competitive nature came out," he reflected. "So far this year, it鈥檚 been super calm. I think I put more pressure on the team and then they started to feel it.
"We want to put pressure on them at practice so this part looks easy, but it doesn鈥檛 help that I put pressure on them. It鈥檚 something I鈥檝e got to learn from. I told the team I put it on me because I just started getting on people that started to get a little tight. It鈥檚 something that I鈥檒l learn from," Williams added. "I always want our players to learn from games and I鈥檒l learn from this one and be better."
While Homestead stunned the Bulldogs with the early strike, it did not take the visitors long to start knocking on the door.
Over the next 10 minutes, Cedarburg had three separate advances that resulted in a shot that banged off the right post, an opportunity to get to a free ball in the box before the Highlanders finally cleared the sphere and another shot that forced Homestead goalie Lanie McNichol to make the first of several diving saves on the evening.
"We鈥檝e just been working a ton on crossing and finishing and stuff like that, just to kind of get it in their head," Williams said. "Scoring this year once again has got to be a group effort for us, so we鈥檝e tried to focus on the little things when we鈥檝e been outside, on finishing and putting balls in the mixer."
Cedarburg held a sizable advantage in shots on goal throughout the contest, but as the match wound down to the closing minutes, the Highlanders kept their lead.
"It鈥檚 early in the season, so you don鈥檛 see a ton of possession, but they absolutely had stretches where they out-possessed us," Denk said. "I think that鈥檚 where we hung on tight and we defended well and we played tough, but they generated really, really good chances."
McNichol made another diving stop 11 minutes into the second half and the Bulldogs came up empty midway through the period despite having multiple attempts from point-blank range before the home team could knock the ball out of the box.
鈥淵ou start to think, and their keeper had some huge, huge, huge saves,鈥 Williams responded when asked if players begin to feel extra pressure with each passing opportunity that gets turned away while time continues to count down. 鈥淚 like my team. We鈥檝e only been together a short time, but I know they鈥檙e going to work, they鈥檙e not going to give up.
鈥淚 thought we had some chances, better chances than we had in the first half. We鈥檙e just going to keep learning and keep getting better.鈥
Denk could sense McNichol gaining confidence throughout the game.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a really exciting kid to have in the program. She鈥檚 young, she鈥檚 eager, she鈥檚 very committed to the game,鈥 the Homestead coach said. 鈥淪tarting as a freshman is not easy at that position, and I think she kind of started to get comfortable tonight and had a breakout game.鈥
Cedarburg was finally able to net the equalizer with six minutes to play when Nadia Epshteyn hammered home the tying goal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a little bit different role for Nadia this year,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking her to play a little bit different position. She鈥檚 still getting used to it.
鈥淪he鈥檚 got great finishing ability and that goal doesn鈥檛 surprise me, that she was able to finish it,鈥 the coach added. 鈥淚t was a great goal by her. I don鈥檛 think anybody was saving that shot.鈥
Denk praised the Cedarburg coach and added that the Bulldogs, now 1-0-1 on the season overall, are a quality side. She was also satisfied with earning a draw against a good opponent.
鈥淩obert鈥檚 a fantastic coach, they looked good for April and I think that we feel good about the result,鈥 she said.
Homestead will be back in action today at 6:30 p.m. at Menomonee Falls, while the Bulldogs will take on Edgewood on Saturday at 5 p.m. at MSOE.