Central nips Tosa East kickers, 1-0, on Kenney's goal

Wauwatosa East won’t miss Brookfield Central senior Morgan Kenny.

It was Kenny who provided the only goal in Central’s 1-0 sectional semifinal victory over the Red Raiders on Thursday night – and it was also Kenny who provided the assist in the Lancers 1-0 win over East on May 13.

Kenny connected at the 20:02 mark off an assist from sophomore Emma Brauer. It was all the Lancers (14-5-3) needed to advance to Saturday’s final with Brookfield East, whom they defeated 2-0 on Saturday at Central.

“It’s something we worked on in practice all the time,” Central head coach Jason Burdge said. “It was off one of our throw-ins. We scored a few goals on it this year. In practice, we made a couple of tweaks on it and that’s how Morgan got in there.”

The remainder of the match was a hard-fought defensive battle, with East mustering just three shots on goal all night. When East had rare opportunities, Central junior goalkeeper Rachel Oleson stepped up with three saves.

“Rachel’s one of the best goalkeepers in the state,” Burdge said. “I’m not too worried when they’re getting shots, especially from far away. With her athleticism, she makes everything look pretty routine. I love what she’s doing back there. I always say if you’ve got a really good goalkeeper, you’re always going to win most of your games.”

For the Red Raiders, their final game was a microcosm of the season – strong defense and an inability to make the most of rare chances offensively.

“We talk about it every day,” Wauwatosa East head coach Robby Dubinski said. “Especially against Greater Metro teams, you’re only going to get a few opportunities and you have to finish them. Unfortunately that’s kind of been our Achilles heel in big games. We can’t get the ball in the net and we don’t get many opportunities.”

East’s frustration was noticeable – both with their play and the officiating. Dubinski drew a yellow card at one point for questioning a lack of called fouls and what he thought was an incorrect possession call.

“It was just frustration,” he said. “The same fouls were happening over and over, and then they kick it out of bounds and they miss it completely; I just lost it a little bit.”

The Red Raiders finished the season 13-6-2, and while they had bigger goals in sight, Dubinski considered it a successful campaign.

“I told them that they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about,” he said. “We knew going into it, all the games were going to be tough in a Greater Metro sectional. They left it all on the field. We made one defensive mistake; they made a nice a throw and capitalized.”

With the stakes raised for Saturday’s renewed rivalry game, Burdge said his team is excited. Brookfield East (12-7-1) defeated Divine Savior Holy Angels on Thursday to advance.

“I thought we did a good job tonight,” he said. “We’re not a super attacking team, but we hold the ball well, and we stuck to our strengths. I’m proud, and I’m excited. As far as motivation goes, I don’t have to say a word when it’s Central and East.”