It’s always good to get back into the win column.

The Waunakee soccer team did just that this week, winning their first games since the season opener.

Waunakee 8,

Portage/Poynette 0

Though Waunakee had plenty of chances early, some aggressive play from Portage’s goalie held them off the scoreboard. Numerous chances throughout the first 30 minutes of the game came up empty.

At the 30-minute mark, the floodgates finally opened for the Warriors.

A Sam Acker pass into the box caused a hand-ball penalty kick. Brennen Miller made the penalty kick to score the game’s first goal.

Over the next 10 minutes, the Warriors’ offense exploded, getting goals from Jacob Mouille, Nathan Dresen, Sam Acker, Brennen Miller, and Chris Laack to blow the game wide open.

The Warriors could relax a little in the second half, but they continued to put pressure on with a variety of lineups. Ten minutes into the half, Ben Koss found Nathan Mais, who finished for goal number seven.

The only obstacle to more goals was Poynette/Portage doing everything they could to draw Waunakee offside. Cole Kettner scored one more for the Warriors as he put in his own rebound in the 75th minute.

Waunakee closed out the game with several near misses. Dane Laemmrich stole the ball and sent one just over the goal, as did Hudson Miller on his breakaway shot. As the game ended Nathan Mais found Hudson Miller on a nice cross, which the goalie was just barely able to get his hands on, keeping the score at 8-0.

The win puts Waunakee’s conference record at 1-0-1 early in their Badger North schedule. Next up were a pair of non-conference games on Friday and Saturday.

Waunakee 2,

Stevens Point 1

Game started with back and forth action. Increased pressure from the Warriors saw them earn several corners in the middle of the half.

The multitude of opportunities on corners paid off at the 21-minute mark, as a Carson Ejzak corner found Dresen on the far side of the goal, and Dresen buried the shot to make it a 1-0 game.

Stevens Point fought back as they placed several free kicks on goal, but goalie Sullivan Schwitters did a great job in goal corralling all their free kicks.

Stevens Point was able to find the equalizer late in the half as they got the ball up the middle put one in, making it a 1-1 game. The tie score held for the remainder of the first half, but it didn’t take long for the Warriors to break the tie after play resumed in the second half.

The Pointers pressured often early in the second half, but Schwitters continued his stellar work in goal, stopping any free kick or corner he faced. At 53 minutes, Kettner sent a nice ball up the sideline to Mais. Mais then crossed to a charging Laack, who put in what turned out to be the game winning goal.

The Warriors held on the remainder of the game as Stevens Point battled for another equalizer, but when the final whistle blew, the score remained 2-1 in favor of Waunakee.

The Warriors had little time to savor the victory, however, as they squared off against Fond du Lac the following day.

Waunakee 1,

Fond du Lac 1

After goalie Nick Ohm made an early nice save off a Fond du Lac corner kick, the rest of the half was dominated by the Warriors. Though they dominated on the field, the results didn’t translate onto the scoreboard. Waunakee had scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity, but none found the back of the net, and the first half ended in a scoreless tie.

The Warriors continued to control play in the second half. Their best opportunities were corner kicks, but they couldn’t punch a goal through. With 10 minutes to go, Fond du Lac made a free kick to score a late 1-0 lead.

The Warriors kept on attacking, though. With less than three minutes to go, Waunakee sent a free kick into the box. As the ball pounced around in the chaos, Laack found it and put it past Fond du Lac’s goalie to tie the game at one.

Though Waunakee continued the pressure, they were unable to score again in the remainder of the game, and had to settle for a 1-1 tie.

The Warriors carried a five-game unbeaten streak into their home game on Tuesday against Mount Horeb, the results of which were not available for this week’s edition.

Waunakee’s JV teams were also in action this week, with the JV White team taking second place as host of an eight-team tournament.

JV White

In an evenly-matched defensive battle, the Warriors netted the only goal of the game at the 20-minute mark by Jackson Ehle.

Moving onto the semifinal match, it took Dmitriy Gorvoruhka only 18 seconds to score against Verona to put Waunakee up 1-0. Neither team was able to find the net, although Verona had a penalty kick in the 44th minute that was saved by goalie Will Meganck to preserve the shutout.

In the championship game, Waunakee’s luck in one-score games came to an end, as Sun Prairie scored in the 46th minute. The Warriors were unable to even the game, and finished the tournament as runners-up.

Waunakee 3, Driftless United 2

With a little more offense than their JV White counterparts, the Warriors outlasted their Driftless United opponent, getting goals from Lane Miller, Alex Hoopes, and Trent Jarvi.