East advances to sectional final

Despite being nonconference foes, the Green Bay East and Oshkosh North boys soccer teams faced off for the third time this season Thursday night.

Each team won once during the regular season, with the final score 2-1 in both matches.

There were three goals scored again Thursday, but this time the Red Devils scored all of them.

Miguel Vergara-Haro scored a goal and had an assist, and Emmanuel Sanchez and Kevin Avila also scored as Green Bay East blanked Oshkosh North 3-0 in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal match at Green Bay Southwest High School.

Green Bay East will play Cedarburg on Saturday afternoon at West De Pere High School for a chance to go to state for just the second time in school history and the first since 1990.

"It was a great game, Oshkosh North is a fantastic opponent, and being the third time we played this year it was a rubber match," East coach Michael Bootz said. "It was a really good matchup, and I think what you saw was our technical skill take over playing out of the back."

The Red Devils used their speed and cohesiveness to create problems for the Spartans all evening. The East duo of Vergara-Haro and Sanchez controlled possession throughout the match and created a number of scoring chances.

East scored its first goal in the 13th minute on a beautiful give-and-go from Vergaro-Haro to Sanchez for the early advantage. After North pushed the tempo to begin the second half, East used the Spartans' aggressiveness to its advantage for its second goal just 2 minutes into the second half.

Vergaro-Haro scored the second goal, using a counterattack along the left sideline and beat goalkeeper Freeman Lor for a deflating goal.

"The second goal was the most important goal of the game," Vergaro-Haro said.

"A one-goal lead, you have to remind the guys that the game can still go either way. An accident or something (could tie it), so the two-goal lead was definitely impactful, and I was glad I was able to get it. It felt pretty nice."

Avila scored in the 84th minute to seal the victory for East, and ended a surprising playoff run from Oshkosh North.

North's offense had been potent over the last few weeks, scoring 26 goals over the previous eight matches and going 7-1 over that span.

But East's speed on both sides of the field were tough to overcome. The Spartans scored only three goals in three games against the Red Devils.

"They're a lot more technical than we are, and they know where everyone is at every second of the game — that's why they came out with the win," North's Sam Hawley said.

The Spartans also noticed how much better the Red Devils played as a team in the sectional semifinal, something Bootz has been working on with his East club as the season progressed.

"One of the models in the locker room is that we're a family, and we keep that together. It's been 23 guys all season long sticking together and overcoming so many different types of adversity," Bootz said. "That family word has made everything click, and when you have this much talent and ability and you become unselfish, it's really neat to see."