Upset not possible, Bigfoot girls soccer loses to Delavan

The Bigfoot/Williams Bay girls soccer team fought valiantly for 80 minutes, culminating in a late goal from Mia Gonzalez, but it wasn't enough to clinch the season, falling 2-1 to Delavan Darien in a regional match on Thursday, May 30.

Bigfoot/Williams Bay finished the 2024 season with an overall record of 11 wins, 7 losses and 2 ties.

“They were shaky at the start but picked up steam towards the end and had some good chances,” Bigfoot/Williams Bay girls soccer head coach Rene Perez said. “They played a good game. It was back and forth on offense and defense and they have a lot to be proud of. I think with five more minutes we could have turned it around.”

Delavan Darien put pressure on the BF/WB defense early in the first half, taking quite a few shots, but the Bigfoot defense and junior goalkeeper Bianca Mondragon did a great job on the back end to keep the game tied.

“They had chances but Bianca made some really great saves,” Perez said. “Ryan (Grunow) and Lucia (Martinez) at the back played well too, as did Aubrey (Hannah) and Molly (Andersen).”

Bigfoot freshman forward Jackie Lambat and senior midfielder Stephanie Rodriguez came close to finding the back of the net in a wild scramble in the goalie's box in the 33rd minute, but a strong save from Comets goalkeeper Mia Wolfer kept the points from coming.

The Comets continued to press in the second half, earning a penalty kick in the 47th minute after a sliding tackle in the penalty box.

Delavan Darien senior midfielder Brooke O'Grady took the penalty kick and it just barely got past Mondragon, who was diving in front of the goal, and the ball bounced off her fingertips and into the back of the net to give the Comets a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, O'Grady scored again to make the score 2-0.

But the Chief Dogs didn't go down without a fight. Bigfoot junior midfielder Annabelle Pierce put a shot on net in the 63rd minute, Lambat raced past everyone and toyed with the defense, and Gonzalez converted one of her many chances into a goal in the 76th minute.

Although the 2024 season ended with a heartbreaking loss, Perez couldn’t be prouder and would be lying if she didn’t feel the future is bright for Bigfoot/Williams Bay girls soccer.

“We lost a lot of seniors last year and we had a rough start,” Perez said, “but this year, everybody's played really well and we've bounced back. We're not really thinking about next season anymore, but numbers-wise and everything we're doing, it looks very promising.”

The 11 wins are the most the BF/WB girls soccer team has won since 2019, when they recorded 13 total wins, and they also set a Bigfoot High School record by scoring 16 goals in a single game on May 14 against Clinton.

“We have a lot of positives to build off of,” Perez said. “This is a tough loss. The guys gave it their all and gave everything they had in the game, and that's all I ask as a coach.”