Hawks advance with 6-3 win

Sophomore forward Morgan Klitzke knocked in a hat trick as the Shawano Community High School girls soccer team beat Hortonville 6-3 in a WIAA Division 2 regional match Thursday in Shawano. Sophomore midfielders Rachel Schnell and Sarah Dickmann added a goal each for the third-seeded Hawks. “It seems like we step up when we need to,” Shawano coach Robert Croschere said. “We can get that goal, in most of the matches, whenever we need it.” Freshman goalie Carlie Hinnefeld had four saves but gave up a trio of goals to Hortonville forward Miranda Natrop. With the win, the Hawks will travel to Griese Park in Marshfield for a showdown with No. 2 Marshfield in the regional final at 1 p.m Saturday. “We just have to keep playing our own game,” Croschere said. “Not play to what everyone else is doing. We need to keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve moving the ball well. We’re playing good at this point.” The match was similar to the teams’ previous meeting this season, when sixth-seeded Hortonville’s every score was immediately matched by Shawano, which pulled away in the second half. “It was basically back and forth,” Croschere said. “They’d score, and we’d score right back.” The Polar Bears got the scoring going in the first minutes of the game Thursday, when Natrop got a breakaway to score. Shawano answered on the next possession when Klitzke got a goal off a scrum in front of the Hortonville net. Dickmann put the Hawks ahead 2-1 with a goal 15 minutes into the match, but Hortonville answered with another Natrop goal. “We did more of a team effort, we didn’t put a person on her,” Croschere said. “We figured, with the offense we’ve been having lately, we could outscore one person.” A few minutes later, a Dickmann kick that landed in front of the Hortonville goal was knocked into the net by a Hortonville player to put the Hawks ahead 3-2. Shawano held that lead until Natrop struck again 15 minutes into the second half, but back-to-back goals by Klitzke in under 2 minutes gave Shawano breathing room. In the match’s 69th minute, sophomore midfielder Schnell capped the scoring and put Shawano ahead 6-3.