EAU CLAIRE — A lot of things are working well for the Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer team right now.
Monday was an illustration of that as the team scored early and often in a 7-0 Mid-Western Wisconsin Conference rout over Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis High School.
Annabelle Schroeder scored four goals, reaching the 100-goal mark for her career. Grace Market, Colleen Callaghan and Lydia Wesolowski each added goals as Regis/McDonell (12-1-1, 9-0-0) continued its stranglehold on the top spot in the conference standings.
Market opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game when a loose ball rolled away from the Assumption keeper and the junior midfielder knocked it home to open the scoring at one minute and 42 seconds. Callaghan scored a goal on an assist from goalkeeper Cara Olson near the midway point before Schroeder netted two goals 35 seconds apart later in the half. Schroeder added two goals in the first half of the second half before the freshman Weselowski scored with less than four minutes to go.
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“Consistent, well-rounded (and) playing well at every position on the field,” Regis/McDonell coach Scott Hoffmann said of the team’s success. “That’s the main thing. Sure we’re scoring a lot of goals, but what doesn’t get noticed enough is that we’re not allowing goals. We’re not allowing shots. Tonight they hardly had any decent shots on goals.”
Callaghan assisted on four goals as the co-op won its third game in a row.
Assumption juniors Sarah Shaw and Addi Vollert entered Monday’s game with 42 combined goals but the Regis/McDonell defense shut the dangerous duo out.
Regis/McDonell returned plenty of firepower from last year’s Division 4 sectional finalist. But one position the team was inexperienced at was goalkeeper where senior Kassandra Herr and junior Cara Olson were newcomers to the team. Olson has shouldered the lion’s share of the work in goal and while the Regis/McDonell defense has stifled opponents to limit shots on goal, Hoffmann has still seen tangible improvement from his first-year netminders.
“It takes a while to learn the position and if you watched tonight what Cara did is she saw opportunities to come out and come out of the goal and pick up the ball within the box,” Hoffmann said. “Those are things she didn’t see at the beginning of the season.”
Senior Brittany Martin is an anchor for the co-op’s strong defense that has allowed more than two goals just once so far this season and said the defenders came into the year expecting to have more on their shoulders to help the inexperienced keepers, but quickly saw they had the talent to play at a high level.
“I went into the season with that mindset but they’ve picked it up so well and it feels like they’ve been playing right next to us for years,” Martin said.
Schroeder entered Monday’s game with 99 career goals and is now within two goals of tying the program’s career record of 105. Regis/McDonell broke into the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Division 4 state rankings a week ago in the ninth spot.
The only two non-victories this season for the co-op came to Big Rivers Conference competition. Regis/McDonell played to a 2-2 tie with Menomonie on April 13 and suffered its only loss to date 3-2 versus Eau Claire North on May 3.
The Saints need one win in their final three conference games to clinch the program’s first outright league title since the conference was formed in 2021. The Royals (7-5-1, 6-2-1) won the first three Mid-Western Wisconsin championships.
Regis/McDonell plays at Amherst/Iola-Scandinavia on Friday before closing the regular season at Melrose-Mindoro/G-E-T on May 21 and hosting Mauston on May 23. The Division 4 playoff seeding meetings are this coming weekend where the Saints are expected to earn a strong seed.
As the regular season draws to a close, Regis/McDonell has its eyes focused forward with an emphasis on continuing to improve and be at its best when it matters most.
“There are some things that we need to work on – head balls, corner kicks are weak points of our teams and we’re working on those in every practice going forward,” Hoffmann said. “Outside of that I think if we can stay healthy I think we’re looking pretty good for the playoffs.”
IN PHOTOS: Regis/McDonell girls soccer hosts Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at Eau Claire Regis/McDonell girls soccer 5-13-24