GIRLS SOCCER Trojans shutout in losses to Whitefish Bay, Brookfield Central

Wauwatosa West finished with a 0-2-1 record in the first week and the Trojans are still looking for their first score of the year.

The Trojans dropped a 6-0 decision March 27 at Whitefish Bay to begin the season. The Blue Dukes scored twice in the first half and four times in the second to put the game away.

"I have have mixed emotions with this game," West coach Jon Gulrajani said. "I was a bit disappointed with our organization defensively as a team, but we had some very good moments to build from. All of our players received minutes and gained valuable experience. With our scrimmage canceled Saturday this was our first live competition and it showed in points."

But Gulrajani did compliment Whitefish Bay.

"They are a well-coached, very talented team," he said. "I was impressed with their level this early in the season. If you make mistakes they really penalize you for them. I would be surprised if they lose many games this year."

Gulrajani did see a turning point in the game.

"The turning point came with three minutes left," he said. "We allowed their center back to dribble past four people and find a wide open player at the back post. We never really recovered from that. We made changes at half but just had a tough time containing their attack."

Gulrajani found a bright side.

"This really gave our players an understanding of where we need to be to play with some of the best (teams) in the area," he said.

The coach said the team had some solid performances and complimented Katelyn Hronek ('good energy'), Natasha DeAsis ('adjusted well'), Jenna Lahmann ('looked strong'), Mia Tripi ('solid tackling') and Sarah Henson ('solid minutes').

West then played Grafton to a scoreless tie March 29 at home.

"I was very pleased with this result," Gulrajani said. "Grafton is a very strong team. They really create matchup problems and they are very confident attacking. I felt we made tremendous improvements with our defensive shape.

"The back line really did a nice job and they started the attack much better than Tuesday. Sabelle Seabrook was back to herself. She played with more confidence in goal (17 saves) and made some great saves. I felt our possession was much better. We knocked the ball around in the midfield and used our outside backs in the attack."

Gulrajani praised the defensive group of Tripi, Lahmann, Jess Pike, Ellen Sauter and Ashley Colebourne.

Unfortunately at Brookfield Central on Saturday, the Trojans fell, 5-0, allowing three first-half goals and two in the second.

"We never took our foot off the gas," Central coach Jason Burdge said. "Tosa West is a well-coached, good team. We just got off to a fast start and things just started snowballing for both teams.

Gulrajani wasn't pleased with his team's effort.

"I was not happy with our energy and attitude in this game," Gulrajani said. "We just really didn't seem excited and up for this game. It started in warm-ups and continued most of the game. Credit Brookfield Central, they played well and made things difficult for us from the opening whistle."

Gulrajani addressed areas his team needs more work on.

"As a team we need to play with more consistency," he said. "We need to keeping moving forward and not revert back to mistakes we made earlier in the week. We set the bar high for the first week and we did some great things. I am confident we will learn from this and be a better team in the long run.

But Gulrajani did praise the bench and the energy they brought to the game. He also praised Lahmann and Hronek.