Soccer Vanguards hoping for playoff run
The postseason is here.
And to say the boys soccer team from Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld has high hopes would be a massive understatement.
“We are positioned for a run at state,” Vanguards’ coach Bartlett Holmes said.
Heights/Barneveld is the No. 3 seed in its WIAA Division 4 bracket and host either 14th-seeded Prairie du Chien or 19th-seeded Dodgeland/Hustisford in a regional semifinal Thursday at 4 p.m. If the Vanguards win there, they would advance to the regional finals and meet either sixth-seeded Watertown Luther Prep or 11th-seeded Richland Center Saturday at a time to be announced.
Heights/Barneveld finished the regular season with a 7-1 win over Columbus on Oct. 15. The Vanguards clinched second place in the Capitol Conference with the win.
It was ‘Senior Night’ and the Vanguards honored Brennan Zander, Braydan Cymbalak and Rhead Jacobus. Zander contributed two goals and Cymbalak added one in the rout.
“The two healthy seniors stepped up big,” Holmes said. “Unfortunately, Rhead was out with a groin injury. Hopefully he will be healthy in time for regionals.”
Gavin Childs, who scored twice for Heights/Barneveld, had an early goal as the Vanguards jumped to a 1-0 lead. At the 20-minute mark, though, Columbus netted the equalizer.
From there, though, it was all Heights/Barneveld.
Jack Haugen scored on an assist from Childs to make it 2-1. Zander and Childs added goals before halftime as the Vanguards’ lead grew to 4-1.
“We had a slow start, but a solid finish,” Holmes said.
Braydan Cymbalak, freshman Sam King and Zander added second half goals as the Vanguards finished off a convincing win.
“Gavin continues to exert his dominance over Capitol Conference teams,” Holmes said. “Trevor (Dimpfl) also had some big saves that lifted the team up.”
Overall, Holmes was thrilled with the Vanguards’ regular season performance.
“After graduating so many seniors last year, this year could have been a rebuild,” said Holmes, whose team lost nine seniors. “But so many boys have stepped up and this year has been great.”
