For the Antigo Times

Saturday, September 15, the Red Robins boys soccer team posted a record result at their home tournament, hosting opponents Gresham, Peshtigo, and Ironwood Michigan.

In the first match of the day, Antigo faced Gresham, having beat them 3-1 earlier in the season, and hoping for an even better result. Both teams started slow, but then the Robins quickly pulled away in the 10th minute when senior Noah Samolinski crossed a ball to his brother, freshman Alex Samolinski who easily relayed the ball into the net. With Gresham’s defense already on their heels, Noah Samolinski scored back to back breakaway goals in the 12th minute. With a score of 3-0 heading into halftime, Antigo keeper Cordell Umland only needed to make three saves in the first half. The Robins continued their offensive domination in the second half. Five minutes in, at the 35 minute mark, senior Jacob Peloquin scored off a long range shot from the right side, finding the far left side of the Gresham net.

Coach Wilhelm said of the first match, “Our guys did a great job in our first match with the Samolinski combination getting us on the board right away, followed by the awesome Noah Samolinski back to back goals! Then with Jacob Peloquin’s second half goal to seal the lead, overall we saw enormous offensive success.”

In addition to the Samolinski brothers, and Peloquin, Brody Bunnell also made significant offensive contributions. Through the sixty minute match, Antigo had over 20 shots and shots on goal. Umland recorded a shutout in net, only having to make 6 saves, which also reflected Antigo’s defensive strength.

In the Robin’s second match, the Robins were eager to face Peshtigo, who they previously tied 4-4 in the first match of the season. Noah Samolinski again led the Robin’s offensive efforts, scoring on Peshtigo immediately at 35 seconds in. However Peshtigo’s offensive efforts were far better than Gresham’s. In the first half, Umland recorded 6 saves. In the 20th minute, on a swift Peshtigo breakaway, the scored was evened up 1-1. After half, and at the 40th minute, Noah Samolinski was fouled in Peshtigo’s box, and was awarded a penalty kick. Samolinski capitalized to take back Antigo’s lead and win the game 2-1. Umland again kept up his enthusiastic performance in net recording 6 more saves, for a total of 12 in the match.

Antigo and Ironwood, both undefeated, then faced off in the final match of the day, and to determine the tournament winner. Unfortunately just 45 seconds in, Antigo’s defense lapsed momentarily allowing Ironwood’s lone goal. The two fatigued teams battled on in a very even and energetic match for the remaining 59 minutes. Despite playing all day, Umland stayed strong, recording 10 first half saves and 10 more second half saves, totaling 20 in the match. With many of the Robins offensive leaders tired, and facing a tougher opponent, Antigo struggled to come back, but couldn’t get on the scoreboard.

Coach Wilhelm said “I’m so proud of our boys’ work today! We had two confident wins in our first two matches and felt good going into the final match. Despite those first 45 seconds of that match, we had a near flawless day. In the end we were disappointed, because if we had even tied our last match, we would still have won the tournament, having allowed fewer goals than Ironwood. But despite only taking second in the tournament, I’m confident in saying that we displayed Antigo’s best ever home tournament performance, beating all previous records and score differentials!”

Antigo has a brief break in play as their next match isn’t until Thursday at 4:30pm versus Rhinelander.