For Wausau Pilot & Review

WAUSAU — The Wausau Wolfpack High School women’s lacrosse team dropped another close game Tuesday night in their first home game of the season.

The Wolfpack lost by a single goal to the Neenah Rockets 9-8 in the game played at Wausau West High School. It’s the third game of the last five in which the Wolfpack have lost by a single score.

Neenah got off to a quick 2-0 start thanks to goals from junior Erica Llewellyn and senior Lauren Wilharm. The Wolfpack rallied to tie the game at 2-2 with 10 minutes left in the half thanks to goals from senior Nora Imhoff and rookie Teagan Lindman.

Neenah and Wausau traded goals before a penalty goal in the final minutes of the first half gave Neenah a 4-3 halftime advantage.

Two quick goals in the opening minute of the second half by junior Lily Sann and senior Lauryn Wimmer gave the Wolfpack a 5-4 lead, but a pair of goals from senior Neenah Maddie Hart put the lead back in. Neenah.

Neenah extended their lead to 7-5 before senior Nora Imhoff scored twice for the Wolfpack to tie the game at 7-7. A pair of Neenah goals by rookie Brooke Kottwitz and Wilharm created a two-goal lead late.

A goal from sophomore Brooke Schaefer inside the final four minutes brought the Wolfpack within a goal, but junior goaltender Ally Schmidli denied a pair of late shots from Wausau to secure the Rockets victory .

Sophomore Brooke Schaefer scored two goals for the Wolfpack and Imhoff scored three goals in the game.

“We’re going to work really hard in training this week,” said Wimmer, who also added two assists in the game. “We really want to bring him against the next team and hopefully get a win.”

The Wolfpack’s record is now 5-6 with a 1-2 mark in the Bay Valley Conference.

The Wolfpack will host De Pere for their team’s senior night on Tuesday, May 17. The game will be played at 7 p.m. at Thom Field in Wausau.

The team is supported at the Pack Leader level by Advantage Group, Ruppel Chiropractic, Surgical Associates, Turf MDs and WW Self Storage/STW Enterprises, at the Howler level by Kwik Trip and at the Lone Wolf level by Polito’s Pizza of Wausau. These sponsors help fund travel costs, equipment, coaches’ salaries and set-up time. For more information on this team fundraising effort, contact Alison Howrey at 715-218-2172 or [email protected]