Boys Soccer: Etori’s hat trick leads Hawks past Hodags

SHAWANO — Chris Etori scored three goals to help the Shawano Community High School boys soccer team snap a losing streak and top Rhinelander 4-2 in a nonconference match on Monday.

For much of the first half, the teams traded shots on goal, with Etori, a senior, finally opening the scoring with a goal at the 35 minute, 14 second mark.

The score was set up by senior Wylee Springborn, who delivered a perfectly placed ball from near midfield that ended up in front of the goal. Etori worked the ball out of traffic to net the goal.

“We played so perfect. The passes were good, we went for the ball and played confidently,” said Etori.

For the next several minutes, Shawano continued to attack Rhinelander’s defense, with Etori nearly tacking on a couple more goals. Senior Michael Klement also got a couple cracks at scoring for the Hawks, but also had his shots denied.

Shawano’s defense and senior goalie J.J. Pyatskowit finished off a first-half shutout by turning away a strong Rhinelander push in the final minute of the half.

After having their scoring chances halted in the opening half, the Hawks got some of those shots to sneak through in the second half.

Etori scored his second goal of the game just 46 seconds into the second half.

After Pyatskowit made several saves over the next couple minutes, Shawano flipped the field back in its favor. After Klement had a chance to score, Etori got another shot on goal and made it count to complete the hat trick less than 10 minutes into the second half.

“We’ve been moving him around a little bit, he hasn’t strictly been playing forward. That allows him to get loose a little more often,” said Shawano coach Bob Croschere of Etori.

Croschere also noted that the team has made some changes to the lineup and some player’s positions in recent games.

“I think its given them a little bit of a spark,” said Croschere.

The teams traded shots on goal for the next 15 minutes before Klement netted the Hawks’ final goal at the 71:20 mark.

“It felt amazing to finally put one in the back of the net after having so many opportunities, not just me, but the entire team,” said Klement. “We worked pretty well today, we worked out butts off and thankfully came out with a dub (win) this time.”

Just when it looked liked Shawano would ease to the win, Rhinelander quickly made things interesting again, scoring twice in a two-minute span to make it 4-2.

The Hodags continued to pressure Pyatskowit and the Hawks’ defense in the final minutes of action, but the hosts rose to the challenge and held on for the victory.

Pyatskowit finished the match with 12 saves.

The goalie praised the defenders in front of him for keeping most of the Rhinelander pressure away from the goal and then the offense for playing on the other side of the field for a good chunk of the night.

Junior Carson Cummings was credited with two assists on the night for the Hawks, who won for the first time since their season opener back on Aug. 27.

“It (the win) boosts our confidence and makes us feel like we are going somewhere,” said Etori.

“This win is going to be really good (for us) because we just came out of a really tough stretch where we faced a bunch of really good teams,” said Pyatskowit. “So this win is going to help us get over those losses and boost us so we can see we can do good things, especially against teams that aren’t one of the top-ranked teams. This should be one of those confidence boosters that can carry through the rest of the season.”

Shawano will spend the next few weeks playing matches on the road. The Hawks travel to take on New London on Tuesday. The team’s next home game will be against Green Bay East on Oct. 1.

Rhinelander 0 2

Shawano 1 3

First half

S: Chris Etori, 35:14

Second half

S: Etori, 45:46

S: Etori 54:56

S: Michael Klement, 71:20

R: Harrison Shinners, 75:28

R: Shinners, 77:18

sports@newmedia-wi.com