Galbraith leads Hawks past G-Town (10-16-06)
GRAFTON - Coming off a ridiculous 2-1 victory a week ago against the Bulldogs from Cedarburg and then a 7-0 shallacking of the Bulldogs from West Allis Central, the Grafton Black Hawks squared off Tuesday night in another North Shore Conference game, this time against a GHS Hawks of a different kind, the Germantown Warhawks. Last year it was Brian Galbraith putting on a show, tallying three goals in the first half, putting Grafton up early, but Germantown fought back and the game ended in a 4-4 tie. This time around, the game landed on October 3rd, which happens to be Galbraith's birthday. The game this year would belong to Galbraith, with plenty of help, of course, from his supporting cast. Adam Wozniak would be the first Black Hawk to score, when in the 24th minute, Grafton had a free kick right in front of the team bench, plenty of distance away from the Germantown net. Wozniak connected well on the foggy evening, and perhaps Warhawk goalkeeper Greg Cox lost the ball in the fog or the lights, but whatever happened, the ball deflected off the hands of Cox and somehow found the back of the net for 1-0 Grafton lead. Almost a minute later, Germantown quickly countered. The Warhawks had a corner kick, and a defensive let down resulted in a quick equilizer by Michael Bognar, tying the game at 1-1 with under 15 minutes to play in the first half. Two minutes later, Grafton would strike again when Brent Schowalter, who left the game injured midway through the second half, flicked a beautiful ball to Galbraith, who volleyed the ball perfectly, finding the net and a 2-1 Black Hawk lead in the 26th minute. That would remain the score going into intermission, until 17 minutes later, in the 57th minute, junior Corby Oleson, the hero from last week's win against Cedarburg, found Galbraith for another well struck volley that resulted in Cox not even attempting to try and save the shot. Grafton lead the Warhawks 3-1 at that point, but Germantown fought back and had a quick answer. Under three minutes later, Kyle Gottschlich hit a shot with his toe from just outside the 18 yard box past a diving Matt King into the side netting, pulling the Warhawks closer at 3-2 with over 20 minutes yet to play in the game. Things would remain action packed, but there was no scoring until in the 73rd minute when senior Patrick Schmalz was dribbling in the Germantown penalty are and was taking down hard, resulting in a penatly kick for the Black Hawks. The birthday boy Brian Galbraith stepped up and drilled the ball top shelf past a diving Cox, for his third goal of the game and an exclamation point to Grafton's 4-2 victory. With tonight's victory and Whitefish Bay's 4-0 victory over Nicolet, Grafton must win Tuesday night at Uihlien Soccer Park in Milwaukee against those Whitefish Bay Blue Dukes. With a win, Grafton will win a share of the conference crown with the Blue Dukes, who still have to make-up a game with Port. Next up for Grafton, a tough test at the Hartford Invite, with Grafton taking on Waukesha West Friday night in Hartford.
