Sports

MILWAUKEE — Everything seemed familiar last Friday night for Middleton boys soccer coach Kevin Pauls and his Cardinals.

It had been 370 days since Middleton had walked off the field at Uihlein Soccer Park as WIAA Division 1 state champions. And now Cardinals found themselves back on the same field, facing the same opponent — Brookfield East.

Just like the last time MHS and East faced off at Uihlein, it took some late-game magic for Middleton to come out on top.

Middleton scored twice in the final eight minutes of regulation — both goals coming within 90 seconds of each other — and edged the Spartans, 2-1, in the state semifinals.

Third-seeded Middleton advanced to the state championship game against fourth-seeded Green Bay Preble, which upset top-seeded Marquette.

GREEN BAY — The WIAA and the WISAA merged back in 2000.

And in the 25 seasons since, Marquette’s boys volleyball program has been the state bully.

In the past quarter century, the Hilltoppers have won 10 state championship, have three runner-up finishes and been to the state tournament a whopping 22 times.

On Thursday afternoon, though, Middleton showed there might be a new sheriff in the boys volleyball world.

The Cardinals controlled the first two sets, held off a Marquette rally in the third, and downed the Hilltoppers, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 in a state semifinal game held at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

Third-seeded Middleton, the defending state champs, improved to 34-4 and will take aim at a repeat when it faces top-seeded Sussex Hamilton in the title match Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m. Second-seeded Marquette finished its season 27-7.

GREEN BAY — Caden Van Buren shines at everything he does on a volleyball court.

Attacking. Defending. Setting. Leading.

Van Buren can certainly do it all.

Turns out Middleton’s junior outside hitter had one more trick in his large bag of treats — kicking.

During the Cardinals’ four-set win over Westosha Central in the WIAA Division 1 quarterfinals Wednesday, Van Buren was completely out of position on an early point in the first set. Van Buren threw out his foot — a completely legal play — and sent the ball back onto the Falcons’ side, where it fell just beyond the reach of two players for a winner.

“Luck,” Van Buren called it. “I just stuck my foot out and it went over and it was perfect.”

Middleton wasn’t perfect — but it was awfully impressive in rolling to a 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20 win over the Falcons.

MADISON — Tradition never graduates, or so the saying goes for programs with a history as rich as Middleton boys volleyball.

But 11 seniors did graduate off of last year’s team that punched the Cardinals’ 14th ticket to the state tournament en route to their first-ever championship.

And with only one returning starter — junior Caden Van Buren — a return trip to the Resch Center in Green Bay for a chance to defend that title seemed like perhaps a longshot.

Maybe so. But no one told that to the Cardinals.

Middleton gelled quickly and put together another memorable campaign, one that will continue this weekend following its 25-21, 25-13, 25-21 victory over third-seeded Madison West in Saturday night’s WIAA sectional championship match at Madison Memorial High School.

MADISON — The pressure was on Liev Schiffman.

Middleton’s senior keeper didn't flinch.

With a return trip to the WIAA Division 1 boys state soccer state tournament on the line, Schiffman came up large.

Schiffman saved three of four shots in a penalty kick shootout as top-seeded Middleton edged Big Eight Conference rival and second-seeded Madison West, 3-1, on penalty kicks in a sectional final at Lussier Stadium last Saturday.

Middleton, the defending state champions, now takes aims at the third state title in program history.

“They’ve been workmanlike. We’ve been talking about taking care of business,” said Middleton coach Kevin Pauls, whose team is making the 15^th state tournament appearance in school history. “Hey, last year was no fluke. We’re going to go back and try to do the same thing.”

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

Middleton’s girls volleyball team was the No. 1 seed in their sectional. The Cardinals, won the Big Eight Conference championship, had rolled past Verona earlier this season and had the state tournament in their sights.

But the best laid plans often go awry and that was the case during the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinals held in DeForest on Oct. 31.

Verona played one of its finest matches of the season, Middleton was far from its best and the Wildcats ended the Cardinals’ season with a 25-16, 25-12, 26-24 victory. Top-seeded Middleton ended its year 28-7, while the fourth-seeded Wildcats lost in the sectional finals to sixth-seeded Holmen two nights later.

WAUNAKEE — To the untrained eye, the football season begins the first week of August and typically runs into November.

Truth is, there are many months of preparation before games are ever played.

There are countless hours in the weight room. There’s contact days, 7-on-7 leagues and a bevy of camps.

And through it all, lifetime bonds are formed.

So when a season officially ends, teams aren't just closing the book on a three-month journey. They’re finishing what’s often an 11-month ride.

That’s why last Friday was so difficult for Middleton.

Waunakee stymied the Cardinals, 17-0, in a WIAA Division 1 Level 2 playoff game and put an end to Middleton’s season.

The fourth-seeded Cardinals finished the year 7-4, while the top-seeded Warriors improved to 10-1 and now host seventh-seeded D.C. Everest in Level 3 this Friday.

Just when you think Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team — the WIAA Division 1 defending state champs — can’t get any better, they surprise you.

Middleton went to the Big Eight Conference meet held at Sun Prairie West last Saturday and put on a show.

The Cardinals won 11 of 12 events, set 11 new pool records and scored the most points in the history of the conference meet. Middleton finished with 738 points to easily outdistance runner-up Verona (613). Madison West (311), Madison Memorial (216) and Sun Prairie East (180) rounded out the top five.

“Our team had a really strong performance at the conference meet,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said.

Boy, did they ever.

The Cardinals got a huge early boost from their divers on Friday.

Senior Avery Potrzbowski finished first and set a new school record with a score of 489.40. Senior Olivia Davis was second at 412.10 and senior Rita Vavilov was fourth (367.70).

There was no panic.

No fear or terror.

Middleton’s boys soccer team, which won the WIAA Division 1 state championship a year ago, was in some trouble during its regional final last Saturday.

Middleton and visiting Sun Prairie West were deadlocked, 1-1, in the final minute. With just 30 seconds left, though, Riley Kann scored on an assist from Jimmy Murphy to lift the Cardinals to a thrilling 2-1 win.

Middleton, the top-seed in the sectional, now hosts fifth-seeded Oregon in a sectional semifinal Thursday at 7 p.m. If the Cardinals win there, they’d meet either second-seeded Madison West or third-seeded Madison East in a sectional final Saturday at 1 p.m. at Madison La Follette’s Lussier Stadium.

“Charlie Strader, the Madison East head coach hit the nail on the head, saying, ‘in our sectional, the top seeds might get one easy game’ and that was proven Saturday,” Middleton coach Kevin Pauls said.

Like a right cross to the chin. Or getting checked into the boards at full speed.

Middleton’s football team was on the receiving end of a massive blow to start Friday night’s WIAA Division 1 first round playoff game against Chippewa Falls, falling behind 14-0 early in the second quarter.

So how did the Cardinals respond?

“Gritty is a good word to describe it,” Middleton co-coach Tim Simon said.

Indeed.

Despite three turnovers, fourth-seeded Middleton found a way to survive and advance, by rallying for a 19-14 win over fifth-seeded Chippewa Falls. The game-winning score came with 4 ½ minutes left when Joey Passaglia hit wideout Troy Teff for a 6-yard touchdown that gave the Cardinals their only lead of the night.

Middleton now travels to top-seeded Waunakee for a Level 2 game Friday at 7 p.m.