Robins soccer loses to Mosinee, looks forward to Amherst tonight

For the Antigo Times

Thursday evening the Robins boys soccer teams travelled to Mosinee for both varsity and junior varsity matches. In varsity player earlier this week, Antigo recorded a tie against Amherst and was hoping to capitalize on the momentum from that close game.

In junior varsity action, Mosinee scored early and at regular intervals, but not without any answer from the Robins. Sophomore Jacob Peloquin recorded Antigo’s single goal. In keeper for Antigo was junior Izaiah Schmidt for the first half, and freshman Frank Volpentesta taking a turn in the second half. Final score at the JV squad’s match was 11-1 in favor of Mosinee. JV will see more action in Mosinee this weekend as Mosinee hosts it’s JV tournament.

In varsity action, play opened slow for both teams. Despite slow play, Mosinee held possession for much of the first half. Even so, Mosinee was unable to capitalize until 22 minutes in. With the score 1-0, Mosinee had many chances for another goal with numerous volleys in front of Antigo’s net. Coach Wilhelm commented “Our keeper, Luis Hernandez, did an excellent job tonight. He was exceptionally attentive and prevented a number of goals that looked to be a sure thing for Mosinee.” Hernandez had 12 saves in the first half of play.

With less than ten minutes before half, Antigo junior Tommy Blink sent a great crossing pass from the right corner for the field that dropped right in front of the goal. In the confusion, senior Hunter Igl was able to control the ball, and junior Tanner Stueck pushed it across the goal line. Antigo’s goal came at 37 minutes. Then at 42 minutes, Mosinee responded with their second goal, leading to a halftime score of 2-1.

Coach Wilhelm said, “I was proud of our guys for making it to half, with only allowing two and getting one on the board for ourselves. We talked at half about coming out stronger because we knew the first half wasn’t as intense as it should have been for either team.”

As the second half started, the Robins struggled to get reorganized offensively. At 55 minutes, Mosinee again found the net. Antigo continued to play defensively strong, and didn’t allow more until the 70 minute mark, and again at 73 and 75. Antigo goalkeeper Hernandez recorded 14 saves for the second half. Coach Wilhelm closed by noting “In the second half we just couldn’t get our offensive spark back. I think if we had even just a little spark, I believe we could have closed the scoring gap some. Nonetheless a final score of 6-1 versus a conference leader is still respectable. Now, moving on we’ll be looking to bolster our offense before we face a rematch against Amherst on Monday.”