Clintonville defeats Wrightstown, loses to Mosinee

Clintonville 2, Wrightstown 1
CLINTONVILLE – The Truckers kicked off their first competition in the new North Eastern Conference with a 2-1 finish to win their fourth game of the season on Thursday, Sept. 10.

Wrightstown scored in the first half off an open shot from inside the goalie box and carried a 1-0 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Truckers senior captain Garrett Kuss asserted himself in offensive play while senior captain Jesse Breitrick stepped up his work on the defensive end.

Breitrick’s crossing pass to midfielder Ryan Krieser was on target, and Krieser beat the sprawling Wrightstown goalie with his first varsity goal.

Minutes later, Kuss stole the ball in the offensive end. His shot bounced off a Wrightstown defender. Junior Josh Schroeder headed the rebound in to the back of the Wrightstown net for the Truckers’ go-ahead goal.

Wrightstown had two solid opportunities to score, but Truckers senior goalie Bob McCoy made his two best saves of the match to block those efforts.

“It was not a pretty game to watch [because of] far too many penalties and stoppages,” Truckers coach Roger Lupien said. “We played our best soccer at the end of the game and won a conference match.”

Clintonville shots on goal: 14
Saves (Bob McCoy): 12
Scoring: Ryan Krieser, assisted by Jesse Breitrick. Josh Schroeder, assisted by Garrett Kuss.

Mosinee 1, Clintonville 0
MOSINEE – The Mosinee Indians slipped a goal past Clintonville to win an away game on Sept. 8.

Lupien said he could tell Mosinee wanted this game more than the Truckers did.

“Mosinee won most of the 50-50 balls, stepped in front of our stationary offensive players, and forced us in to making poor passes in the middle of the field,” Lupien said. “It is apparent that we need to rethink some of our decisions regarding players and/or positions.”

With the conference games beginning later that week with Wrightstown, Lupien said he wanted the Truckers to get their playing back on track.

Clintonville goalie Bob McCoy had nine saves. The Truckers took eight shots on goal.