Truckers respond for first victory

By Erik Buchinger

Following a season-opening loss, Clintonville boys’ soccer responded with a 3-0 home victory over Shawano on Thursday, Aug. 24.

The Truckers improved to 1-1 on the season and beat Shawano for the first time in a decade.

“It’s great to get a win, but this is the first time Clintonville has beaten Shawano in about 10 years so for these guys, that’s a big deal,” Clintonville head coach Roger Lupien said. “It’s fun, and we always have good competition with the guys from Shawano. It’s always physical, and both squads come ready to play.”

Going into the game, Lupien said he reminded his players during practice how long it has been since Clintonville has beaten Shawano.

“It got mentioned at practice at least once, twice or three times,” Lupien said.

The game was scoreless until Clintonville junior Matthew Morse kicked a ball that went through the arms of Shawano’s goalkeeper.

“I was hoping to get at least one or two [against Ripon] but didn’t capitalize on it,” Morse said. “Today I had a couple bad shots and my confidence went down a little, but then I got the first one that was close and I just put one in the goal for the next one.”

Morse had a few shots on goal, including one off the post and sailed a close shot over the net, which resulted in joking from teammates and the coach.

“We both went after the ball and he missed the ball, hit me, and as soon as I made contact with the ball, I just ached in pain and just missed and it was awful,” Morse said. “My team always gives me crap if that happens, but I’m used to it by now.”

Morse came out of the game and limped to the sidelines before returning.

“Right away it was bad, but now that I put some ice on it, it’s feeling fine now,” Morse said.

Senior Nick Schoen headed in a ball from a corner kick to extend the Truckers’ lead late in the first half.

Clintonville had several shots on goal in the second half, but Kevin Ramirez was the lone player to score, which was off a missed shot to give the Truckers a 3-0 lead.

Lupien said his team played much better than its home loss to Ripon to begin the season.

“We played a lot better than we did Tuesday,” Lupien said. “We controlled the ball better, and we passed the ball better.

Lupien said during Wednesday’s practice in between the two games, the team worked on passing angles, depth of passing and worked to keep the ball out of the center of the field.

“We got some goals out of it, but the kids just played a lot faster and a lot quicker today,” Lupien said.

Lupien said he was happy with how his team responded in its first win of the season.

“We did a lot better today, and it showed,” Lupien said. “As a coach, you like to see progress, and the kids had a lot more fun playing like this than they did on Tuesday.”