PEWAUKEE, WI (CBS 58) - Four state champions will be crowned at this weekend's state soccer tournament. Pewaukee hopes to be one of them.
The Pirates punched their ticket to their first state tournament in girls' soccer with a 4-0 win over New Berlin Eisenhower in the Sectional Final.
"You always think you're going to make it and this year, finally did it. I think it's one of the best feelings I've ever had as a soccer player at Pewaukee High school," said Ella Opie, senior captain midfielder.
At Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee, Pewaukee will face River Falls on Friday, June 20 at 4:30pm in the semifinals. Brookfield Central faces Sauk Prairie at 7:00pm in the other semifinal matchup.
Longtime Pirates Head Coach Sean Sullivan is proud of the team's focus to get this point and wants to make the most of it.
"We’re trying to treat this week as another week. Ignore a lot of the distractions and all the hype and stuff and just come out and play soccer and do the best we can," said Sullivan. "Enjoy it but also we're there for a reason. We're not there just show up, we want to come out of there with a victory on Friday."
"Obviously, there is a little bit of nerves but just overall excitement for this weekend. I'm really proud of the team and everything we accomplished thus far," said Abby Hansen, senior captain defender.
Training for the weekend, the girls all wore shirts that said, 'Embrace the challenge, embrace the opportunity".
"We’re not satisfied with where we are yet," said Alex Burkemper, junior captain midfielder. "We're embracing the challenge. whatever - the heat - the team (we play) - whatever we can, we're gonna embrace it and do whatever we can to come out with a win."