Sports

As Mary Duffy watched Evanston’s girls soccer team warm up last Friday night, Middleton’s coach had one overriding though.

“Watching their warm ups, we knew they were well disciplined, skilled, and a cohesive opponent,” Duffy said. “This was one of the best teams we have seen this year.”

The same can be said for Middleton, though. And the Cardinals proved exactly that over the next two hours.

Middleton played arguably its finest game of the season and defeated the visiting Wildkits, 3-1. Evanston, a school of nearly 3,600 students in a Northern Chicago suburb, had defeated the Cardinals, 2-0, last year.

Middleton, which also tied Madison Memorial, 0-0, on April 23, improved to 2-0-3 overall and is 0-0-1 in the Big Eight Conference.

“The whole team was fired up to play,” Duffy said of facing the Wildkits. “I will say that most of us, if not all, were disappointed by the tie with Memorial. We dominated the play for the vast majority of the game.

Middleton’s boys golf team continues to face many of the top programs in the state. And the Cardinals continue to show they can compete with anyone.

Middleton had another busy week, playing in three events. Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

MADISON EDGEWOOD INVITE

The Cardinals finished in second place at the 21-team invite held at Blackhawk Country Club on April 21.

DeForest won the team title with a 295, while Middleton fired a 302. Edgewood (312), Fort Atkinson (317) and Waunakee (320) rounded out the top five.

Reis von Ruden led Middleton with a 1-over-par, 73, and finished fourth individually. Von Ruden had five birdies in his round, including three on the front nine.

Sammy Forslund shot a 74 and finished sixth individually. Forslund also made three birdies on the front nine.

Luke Weiss finished ninth with a 76 and Berrin Reiter added a 79.

Middleton’s track and field teams shined at the Watertown Invite last Friday.

Middleton’s boys finished first at the none-team event with 126.50 points, while Janesville Craig (125) and Neenah (94) were second and third.

Middleton’s girls were second with 119 points, behind only champion Neenah (184).

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals that had top-five finishes.

BOYS

• Tyler Montag won the 400-meter dash (55.05) and Alex Sonetti was fourth (55.72).

• Samuel Bauch won the 110-meter hurdles (15.36) and River Moll was fourth (16.06).

• Matthew Arnold won the 300-meter hurdles (40.74) and Maxwell Hunter was third (42.24).

• Middleton’s 3,200-meter relay team was first.

• Middleton’s 1,600-meter relay team was second.

• Nathan Kaluarachchi was second in the 3,200-meter run (10:24.14).

• Zachary Tang was second in the 800-meter run (2:05.03) and Owen Winkelmann was third (2:05.36).

Middleton’s boys lacrosse team keeps on rolling.

The defending state champion Cardinals won all three of their games last week and improved to 7-1 on the season.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s week.

• Middleton 11, Appleton 4 — Troy Teff scored five goals and Roan Johnson added four as the host Cardinals rolled to a win on April 21.

Patrick Passini added two goals, while freshman Evan Mazur had four assists and freshman Aksel Chelesvig won nine of 14 faceoffs.

Goalie Kyle Ballweg and the Cardinals’ defense were terrific, holding Appleton scoreless in the third quarter and successfully clearing the ball to the Cardinal offense on 12 of 14 second-half plays.

• Middleton 13, Verona 6 — Three Cardinals scored three goals each as Middleton cruised past the visiting Wildcats on April  23.

Megan Button knows better than anyone what a menace Sun Prairie East has been to Middleton’s girls softball program in recent years.

Macey Blazek is just learning what a thorn East has been in Middleton’s side.

But as the two MHS standouts stood outside their dugout at Firefighter’s Park on April 17, they both knew this much — perhaps the worm has turned.

Button threw a four-hit gem, while Blazek had two RBIs and made a spectacular diving catch in center field to power Middleton past East, 3-1, in a critical Big Eight Conference game.

Middleton, which has won six straight games, is now 6-0 in the conference and 8-1 overall. MHS, which is gunning for its first conference title since 2015, holds a one-game lead in the loss column over both Verona (5-1, 8-1) and Sun Prairie East (4-1, 4-4).

It wasn’t the week they hoped for.

The good news is Middleton’s baseball team has a lot of season left to recover.

The Cardinals dropped three of four games last week and are now 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big Eight Conference.

Madison Memorial, Sun Prairie East and Verona are all 5-0 in the Big Eight and tied for the conference lead. Middleton is in fourth place in the league.

The Cardinals opened the week with a pair of home losses — first a 7-2 setback to Monona Grove on April 14, then a 6-5 decision to Verona on April 15. Middleton rebounded with a 14-0 rout of host Janesville Parker on April 16, but lost at Verona, 3-2, on April 17.

Middleton’s track and field teams competed at the Madison West Triangular on April 15.

Team results were not available.

Here are the Cardinals that posted top-three individual finishes.

GIRLS

• Sofiia Dergacheva won the high jump (5-0) and Noel Neuser was third (4-10).

• Andrea Wipperfurth won the triple jump (32-2) and Sophia Hein was second (31-8).

• Middleton’s quartet of Nora Pitt, Eire Riley, Alaina Kliefoth and Abby Arnold won the 400-meter relay (53.38).

• Sofiia Dergacheva was second in the 100-meter hurdles (16:47) and third in the 300-meter hurdles (52.53).

• Andrea Wipperfurth was second in the 400-meter dash (1:06.22) and Avery Tiller was third (1:09.01).

• Haley Jadlowski was second in the long jump (15-1) and Sophia Hein was third (15-0).

• Abby Arnold was third in the 200-meter dash (27.74).

• Sarah Blust was third in the 1,600-meter run (5:43.59).

Middleton’s boys golfers had an extremely busy week, playing three evenths over four consecutive days.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

BADGER/BIG EIGHT CHALLENGE

Middleton won this four-team event held at Bishop’s Bay on April 14 with a 324-team score. Waunakee (329), Milton (340) and Madison Edgewood (343) rounded out the four-team field.

Juniors Sammy Forslund and Reis von Ruden led Middleton with 77s, which tied for second individually.

Forslund made birdies on both sides and carded a 1-under-par, 35, on the back nine. Von Ruden had three birdies in his round and shot a 1-over-par, 37, on the back nine

Junior Luke Weiss carded an 80 that included two birdies and nine pars and finished in a tie for fourth place individually. The Cardinals also counted a 90 from junior Berrin Reiter.

JANESVILLE CRAIG TRIANGULAR

Middleton’s boys lacrosse team — the defending WIAA state champs — notched a pair of impressive wins last week.

The Cardinals defeated Neenah, 8-3, on April 15 and rolled past Oregon, 13-4, last Saturday.

Middleton improved to 4-1 overall, with its only loss coming to out-of-state New Trier (Ill.).

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 8, Neenah 3 — In a rematch of last year’s state championship game, the Cardinals once again came out on top, defeating the host Rockets.

Arjay Johnson and Patrick Passini each had two goals and one assist to lead Middleton’s offense. Troy Teff and Espen Achenbach both had one goal and two assists, as well, while Evan Mazur and Roan Johnson also added goals.

TOWN OF MERTON — Middleton’s girls soccer team was just moments away from kicking off their new season last Friday.

And Cardinals’ coach Mary Duffy had a final message for her team.

“I said, we’re going to jump right into the fire everybody,” Duffy said. “And we’ll see what we’re made of.”

Less than 24 hours later, Duffy had discovered these Cardinals might be made of steel.

Middleton went to the Hartland Arrowhead Quadrangular and left with the championship. Although no trophy was technically awarded, the Cardinals captured the title thanks to shootout wins over both Arrowhead in Friday’s semifinals and Whitnall in Saturday’s title match.

Middleton and Arrowhead played to a 1-1 tie before the Cardinals won the shootout, 4-2. Middleton and Whitnall played to a scoreless draw on Saturday afternoon, and once again, the Cardinals won the shootout, 3-0.