MOSINEE BOYS SOCCER HANDS LAKELAND FIRST GNC LOSS
Zaleski Sports
MOSINEE – The Mosinee boys soccer team edged Lakeland 3-2 in the Great Northern Conference finale for both teams on Thursday at Edgewood Field.
Mosinee won its seventh-straight game to finish the regular season 15-4 and 8-2 in the Great Northern Conference, while sending conference champion Lakeland to its only GNC loss of the season as it finishes 14-2-3 and 8-1-1 in the conference.
Cole Holtz got Mosinee going early with a through ball that pierced the Lakeland defense in the fourth minute. Even with the Lakeland defense focused on stopping him, Toren Holtz took the ball right into the penalty area and fired a shot into the net, past the diving keeper.
Mosinee’s Josh Ivey and others were able to shut down Lakeland’s Yaroslav Myshchyshyn, one of the top scorers in the state, limiting him to two shots.
Caden Schmirler added a goal off a Toren Holtz pass with four minutes to go before halftime to push the Indians’ lead to 2-0 at the break.
Abe Evenhouse knocked a shot into the goal before Mosinee could react, six minutes into the second half and the Thunderbirds tied it up with a goal by Bo Peterson in the 59th minute.
Just one minute later, the Holtz brothers struck again for Mosinee. Cole lofted a ball to the middle of the penalty area and Toren cleared the ball into the net, to put Mosinee back on top and it would hold on the rest of the way.
Mosinee is the No. 3 seed in its WIAA Division 3 bracket and will host No. 6 Shawano at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, in a regional semifinal. Lakeland is the No. 1 seed in the same bracket and will play the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between Ashland and Antigo on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.