Shorewood boys soccer lost in the state semifinals 1-0 in overtime to Notre Dame of Green Bay. 

The team looked strong going into the game, having won conference and advancing out of the regular season undefeated (11-0). As the 2019 state champions, the greyhounds hoped to defend their title at state again this year.

“For a number of years now the goal is the same every year … We want to win our conference and we want to win state,” said Kyle Konkol, varsity head coach.

This goal added extra pressure to the team. As other schools knew Shorewood to be a top competitor and defending state champion, there was an extra target on the greyhounds’ back as well as increased expectations for the team.

“There was definitely a bounty on our heads because everybody knew that we were state champions, so everybody was gunning out to get us, in my opinion,” said Denis Krioutchenkov, junior.

While the greyhounds were disappointed they did not make it to the state final, they were still proud of all they had accomplished. 

“I know Shorewood soccer as a whole has made state four times ever and we did it in back-to-back seasons so there’s also a lot to be proud of,” said Liam Martin, senior and captain. 

Normally, the boys soccer season occurs during late August or early September and continues throughout the fall. Due to COVID, Shorewood opted to play in the spring alternate season. This was disappointing to the greyhounds as they had to wait even longer between seasons. Despite the limited coaching opportunities allowed on the extended offseason, the team practiced together throughout the summer.

“These guys are spectacular about working out together outside of the high school season,” Konkol said. “They’re not just getting out there and kicking a ball and goofing around, they’re actually training and doing drills and working on their fitness.”

These pre-season training sessions also helped to bond the team together. From their 2019 championship team, the greyhounds only lost three seniors. While these seniors had a great impact, many players who previously had starting roles continued to play for the team. 

“We were able to bond together and we were all really close because we were familiar from the year before… It was just a really good cohesive unit,” Martin said.

The spring alternate season also meant that less teams were participating in the season, as other school districts opted for their teams to compete in the fall. Some of the top competition in the Woodland Conference chose to play in fall, which meant that the regular season was slightly easier than past years. Shorewood maintained competitiveness no matter what opponent they played. 

“These guys kept putting in the work all season and played a pretty high standard all the time no matter who we were playing, and that’s another big credit to the players,” Konkol said.

“[In] the spring alternate season many of our top teams that finished last year in the conference played in the fall so [we] weren’t able to play them,” said Will O’Connor, junior. “But I think we would have done well against them. It most definitely would have helped if we had played them before the state final, but that’s what happened in the spring.”

The winner of the 2019 conference, Greendale, still participated in the alternate season. The greyhounds played Greendale three times throughout the season: first in conference, again in the conference final and then one last time in their sectional final. Each time the greyhounds won, but Greendale put up a strong fight, providing a fun rivalry. In the sectional final, Greendale changed their game strategy to defend more.

“I think we responded well against Greendale,” O’Connor said. “We knew they were trying to sit back and defend more, and we just broke them down and wore them out. It was 2-0 on paper, but just if you watched the game we definitely dominated.”

Another change to the season was a new offensive strategy that relied on a variety of goal scorers. Instead of playing the ball directly forward, the greyhounds used more of a build-up play that helped the team be more versatile.

“We looked to get the ball out wide more, so our wings … got more goals,” Martin said. “I was able to get some more goals than I did last year in way fewer games which was nice. And then of course our forward Kam [James, senior,] was really getting on the scoring, and he had a heavy impact on our team.”

After winning the sectional final, the greyhounds advanced to state as the second seed. Their semi-final game against Notre Dame was both a hard fought and physical match. In the first 20 minutes, eight fouls were called against the greyhounds which put them on the defensive and stopped the momentum of the game.

“I usually like to start the game off showing the opponents we’re here to play, like some little fouls. I think the ref just didn’t do his best job that day and was a little bit weak giving them every foul that we barely touched them,” Krioutchenkov said.

Still, the greyhounds responded well defensively throughout the game handling the extra pressure well. This pattern of defensive success was something consistent throughout the season. Two Shorewood defenders, O’Connor and Sajen Hardwrath, junior, made first team all conference as well as freshman goalkeeper, George Pritchard.

“We would practice our [defensive] shape and shifting every single practice and that really shows in games,” O’Connor said. “[Pritchard] was incredible this entire year.”

Other greyhounds to be selected for first team all conference include James, Krioutchenkov and Martin. As the top scorer in division two, Krioutchenkov was also selected for the Best 11 All-State Team and Woodland Conference Player of the Year. Martin was selected for Second Team All-State.

Throughout this coming summer, the greyhounds plan on continuing summer practices everyday under a new group of senior leadership. O’Connor and Krioutchenkov thank the current group of seniors for helping to develop the Shorewood soccer program into a more successful team.

“I’d like to just say thanks because they’re [the seniors are] the ones that helped turn the program around, and now we’re a well-known soccer high school throughout the state and that’s because of them,” O’Connor said.