Early in their season, the Waunakee boys’ soccer team was faced with their biggest challenge thus far: Sun Prairie.

The Cardinals came into Waunakee ranked sixth in the state for Division 1, so the Warriors knew they’d have their hands full, especially with Butler University commit Kyle Hagerman averaging four goals per game heading into the contest.

Sun Prairie 4,

Waunakee 1

Waunakee started with early pressure, as they typically have this season. Taking an early corner kick, Cole Kettner nearly kicked off the scoring, but the ball bounced around in the box before the Cardinals’ goalie was able to corral it.

In the eighth minute, Waunakee found a way to stop Sun Prairie’s potent breakaway offense courtesy of Cole Fetters and Carson Ejzak. Sun Prairie kept the pressure on, however, and found the goal in the 13th minute as they headed in a free kick to make it a 1-0 game.

Waunakee’s chances weren’t lacking, but the Sun Prairie goalie proved tough to beat. He saved an Ejzak free kick and just beat Chris Laack to a ball in the box.

Midway through the first half, Sun Prairie used their speed up top to score on another breakaway doubling their lead to 2-0 at the 25-minute mark.

The Warriors continued to battle. Waunakee maintained possession in Sun Prairie territory more often than not, and scoring opportunities followed.

Late in the half, an Ejzak free kick was bobbled by the goalie and put in by Waunakee. The Warriors, however, were called offside, and the goal nullified.

Moments later, a Kettner corner drew a penalty on the Sun Prairie goalie, and Brennen Miller buried the penalty kick to pull the Warriors within one goal of the Cardinals by halftime.

Sun Prairie came out blazing in the second half, clearing a Waunakee corner for a breakaway and scored just 24 seconds into the half to extend their lead back to two goals.

Both teams battled back and forth as the second half progressed. The Warriors defense held off numerous Sun Prairie attempts in the half as Nick Ohm made several saves. Waunakee had several more chances in the half, but none were able to find the back of the net.

Sun Prairie added a late goal in the final minutes of the game, giving the contest its final score of 4-1.

The Warriors played a hard fought game against a tough team. They just couldn’t get by the Sun Prairie defense despite numerous shots. Relatively speaking, the Warriors held Sun Prairie’s Hagerman in check. the Cardinal forward scored just twice against Waunakee, his lowest scoring game of the still-young season.

The Warriors traveled to Milton on Tuesday for their final game before starting Badger North play. The results of this game were not available for this week’s edition. Waunakee’s first conference game comes on Thursday, when they host Baraboo at 7 p.m.

JV White

Sun Prairie 3,

Waunakee 1

A first-half goal by Dmitriy Govorukha against Sun Prairie tied the game at one for the Warriors. Unfortunately for Waunakee’s JV White squad, that was the only goal they were able to muster. The Cardinals added two goals in the second half to defeat the Warriors 3-1.

JV Purple

Sun Prairie 4,

Waunakee 3

Preceding Waunakee’s varsity matchup on Thursday against Sun Prairie, a late goal by Mason Lee tied the game at three, and it appeared the two teams were headed for overtime. The Cardinals pulled off a stunning last-second goal in the game’s final minutes, however, to steal the game 4-3.