Ranked Brookfield Central hands Wauwatosa East girls soccer team 4-1 loss

Highly-ranked Brookfield Central proved that its preseason accolades are something to be considered as they controlled the play for most of the match and defeated Wauwatosa East, 4-1, on April 12 at Whitman Field.

The loss dropped coach Eric Dale's team's record to 2-2, including an 0-1 record in the Greater Metro Conference opener.

"I was impressed with their pressure and level of intensity the entire match, especially the way they started," Dale said.

First blood

Central got on the board in the third minute when Caroline Busch placed a hard shot into the side netting from 18 yards out with the assist coming from Brandi Thomsen. The Raiders were quickly staring a two-goal deficit in the face after the 10th minute when Busch again scored from close range, this time off an assist from Emma Staszkiewicz.

In the 21st minute, East pulled to 2-1 when Elyse Reagan scored a goal after receiving an assist from fellow sophomore Liz Bueckers.

"Our goal was really well-taken," Dale said. "Evan Knauss did well to win a ball in the midfield, played a wide ball to Bueckers, and Liz saw Elyse making a quality run diagonally through the slot. It was an easy goal really. It was a build we thought we could get all night long."

Expanding the score

Up 2-1 at half, the Lancers increased their lead to 3-1 in the 52nd minute. Staszkiewicz converted a chance from the 6-yard mark off a nice assist from Megan Donaghue. Later, in the 69th minute, the Lancers would add an insurance goal when Ann Mattes scored on another assist from Brandi Thomsen.

"Our quality of play the past few matches has been inconsistent," Dale said. "We are getting very little connection between our midfielders, and it seems as if that lack of possession is creating a ton of pressure on our defenders.

"We need to work on stringing passes together in the middle third of the field and then look to create chances out wide with our speed."

Correction

Senior defender Clara Kuranz was an honorable-mention all-conference performer last year. In the season preview, she was omitted from the information provided.