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From Coach John Chenoweth:
The Whitewater Boys Soccer team opened their season with a non-conference game at Fort Atkinson. The game was a good early test against a solid team and a game that presented a lot of ups and downs and an exciting finish.
The Whippets got on the board early with a goal from Juan Cuellar in the first 5 minutes. Just a few minutes later, Juan found the back of the net again and the Whippets were up 2-0. Fort Atkinson then started to lock in their defense and midfield and the rest of the half was scoreless.
It wasn’t until midway through the second half that another goal was scored with Fort Atkinson getting on the board on a shot that squeezed under our keeper. In the 83rd minute, the Whippets were called for a penalty in the box. Our keeper, Sergio Zuniga, made a great save on the PK, pushing the ball wide of the goal, but in the scramble for the ball, we were called for another penalty. Fort put the second PK in the goal and the game was tied. With time winding down our center back, David Krumholz drove a ball from our goal box past midfield. Juan Cuellar beat the defenders and the keeper to earn the game-winning goal, and a hat-trick, with 4 seconds left on the clock.
We were happy to walk away with the win to open our season. The game helped us see some of our strengths and our opportunities for improvement; but, generally, we were pleased with how we played the first game. Unfortunately, we also take a big loss as one of our captains, senior center back Max O’Brien, suffered a break that ends his season.
The team wishes Max a speedy recovery and a BIG Thank You to all of our fans that came out for the opener. We’ll be back in action Tuesday, Aug. 28, at home against 2017 State Championship Runner-up Delavan-Darien.
Whitewater 3, Fort Atkinson 2
Whitewater 2 1
Fort Atkinson 0 2