Girls soccer: Warriors win on PKs to qualify for state

If Malia Zillman was nervous, she didn’t show it.

With a trip to state on the line, the freshman goalkeeper for the Waunakee girls’ soccer team stepped up and made three spectacular saves on penalty kicks in the Warriors’ 2-0 thrilling shootout sectional final win over Middleton on Saturday. Both defenses were stifling.

Beating the Cardinals was a team effort, according to Zillman, but by stoning Middleton during the penalty kicks session, she stole the spotlight.

“It was just having faith in the players around me and having faith I could make those saves,” said Zillman. “I’m feeling so happy. I’m on top of the world. I don’t know what to say. I’m so excited, so excited.”

Waunakee (17-2-2) is headed to the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament in Milwaukee for the second time in three years. Seeded No. 1, after the four qualifiers were reseeded, the Warriors will open state play by taking on Kimberly at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, June 14.

Making their fifth appearance in the state tournament, Waunakee won the Division 2 state title in 2014 and finished as runner-up in 2008. The Warriors tied with Division 2 qualifier Oregon for first in the Badger Large Conference this season.

Waunakee had scoring opportunities in the first half, with Hadley Frost sending a shot just wide of the Middleton goal in the sixth minute. She later sailed a long shot over the crossbar in the 12th minute. About 20 minutes later, Waunakee sent a ball into the middle of the Cardinal box, but in the scramble, the Warriors couldn’t get a good shot away.

In the second half, both teams — playing tight defense on both sides — had chances between the 66th and 69th minutes, but neither produced a goal.

Sent to overtime, the game featured two 10-minute halves, and in the 83rd minute, Middleton had a breakaway, but Zillman moved up to gather the ball and boomed a kick downfield to give the Warriors an opportunity for a breakaway themselves.

However, the Cardinals fell back and prevented Waunakee from a good scoring chance.

In the 94th minute, Waunakee’s Brooke Nelson had a free kick from long range. Hitting a laser, Nelson could only watch as the ball skimmed off the top of the crossbar.

“I thought it had a good chance,” said Nelson. “As it went past, I just bent my knees. It was so close.”

Neither team scored in overtime, so the game went to penalty kicks. Middleton’s first shot popped up over the Waunakee goal for a miss. Nelson followed up by drilling a shot into the back of the net for the first score of the night.

Zillman dove to her left to earn a save and keep Middleton scoreless. After Frost banged the ball home through the outstretched arms of Middleton’s keeper, Zillman again leaped to her left to deflect a Middleton penalty kick, leaving the score 2-0.

Two misses by Waunakee left the door open for the Cardinals, but Zillman again stopped a Middleton penalty kick — this time going to her right — to send Waunakee to state and kick off a celebration in front of Warrior fans.

“She is a next-level goalkeeper,” said Waunakee head coach Andrew Moll, talking about Zillman. “She is a hard-working kid.”

What makes her so good?

“One is her dedication. She has an outstanding work ethic,” said Moll. “She watches tape, and then the other thing is, she’s so athletic. She’s wired for these moments. She’s built for these moments.”

Zillman has only allowed four goals all season to teams from Wisconsin Waunakee has played.

Going in, Moll figured it was going to be tough for the Warriors to score on the Cardinals.

“Credit Middleton’s defense,” said Moll. “I was pretty sure it was going to go like this. Breaking down an organized team is tough.”

The game was played at Firefighters’ Park in Middleton a grass field, which may have benefitted the Cardinals.

“Playing on a grass field neutralized our speed,” said Moll. “We’re a fast team, and that slowed us down.”

Eventually, the game came down to penalty kicks. Zillman admitted that, while there is a plan and the Warriors practice PKs, making saves on penalty kicks involves a lot of guesswork. That said, Moll felt pretty good going to PKs, knowing that Zillman was in goal.

Afterward, when asked how she felt, Zillman said, “I’m doing pretty amazing.”

About winning over Middleton and going to state, Nelson said, “It feels awesome. Everything we worked for all year, this is one goal down, another goal realized.”

There’s still one to go.