MADISON - Down two starters, the Sugar River Raiders still went toe-to-toe with the state's fourth-ranked team, Madison Edgewood.
Unfortunately for Sugar River, a late charge that saw five runs on goal in the final four minutes came up short, as the Raiders lost a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal 2-1 Thursday.
"You want to play to the last whistle, and we gave them some scares," Raiders head coach John Ziperski said. "I'm really proud of the girls. They did an amazing job. Sometimes bounces don't go your way. The injury bug was biting us at the end here.
"This team has a lot of heart. They are not the type of team that wants to be motivated - they just go out and do their business. They stuck with it to the end today. They didn't give up, and they could have. But my hat's off to Edgewood."
The Crusaders scored the game-winner 15 minutes, 45 seconds into the second half off of a corner kick. Stefanie Tschoeke scored the goal for the Crusaders.
"They are a great team, they really are," junior Hannah Kernen said, who was a two-time all-state player coming into the season. "We gave it full force and our forwards tried to get passes through and tried to score."
"We have Hannah, who really takes the team on her back. She's an amazing player. I think she just gave it one last push with every ounce of energy she had left in her to create some opportunities," Ziperski said.
Sugar River struggled all game to match the physicality and speed of Edgewood, but in the 28th minute, the Raiders found new life and tied the score at 1-1.
Kernen, who won her third straight Capitol Conference player of the year, dribbled through the defense and found Trisha Boley out in front of the net. Boley, who scored the game-tying goal against McFarland in the regional final a week ago in nearly the exact same situation, put the ball in the back of the net.
"I got through (the defense) and I saw Trisha open up, so I passed it. She was in the right place at the right time," Kernen said.
Ziperski was pleased with how far his sophomore forward has come.
"I have to give a lot of credit to Trisha. We had a knee injury to Michelle Disch and (Boley) has done some amazing things in the postseason," he said. "We call her 'Super Sub.' It was nice for her to go out there and get that for us. She calls it (where she was) lucky, I call it smart."
Edgewood took an early lead in the second minute on a deep bomb by Claire Kinderman that went over Sugar River goalie Natalie Manion. But Boley's goal gave the team new life.
"I don't think anyone expected this from us this year," Kernen said. "After losing a lot of people and have a lot of freshmen come in this year, I think next year we will be even better. I think we'll go far next year."
Even though the season is over for Sugar River, which finished 21-4 overall, Ziperski knows who all is coming back. This year's team was without a single senior.
"The future looks bright," he said. "We had some stumbles along the way this year, but I think those stumbles will help make us a stronger team. We were learning all year and we were young. Not anymore though, we'll be seniors soon."
Unfortunately for Sugar River, a late charge that saw five runs on goal in the final four minutes came up short, as the Raiders lost a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal 2-1 Thursday.
"You want to play to the last whistle, and we gave them some scares," Raiders head coach John Ziperski said. "I'm really proud of the girls. They did an amazing job. Sometimes bounces don't go your way. The injury bug was biting us at the end here.
"This team has a lot of heart. They are not the type of team that wants to be motivated - they just go out and do their business. They stuck with it to the end today. They didn't give up, and they could have. But my hat's off to Edgewood."
The Crusaders scored the game-winner 15 minutes, 45 seconds into the second half off of a corner kick. Stefanie Tschoeke scored the goal for the Crusaders.
"They are a great team, they really are," junior Hannah Kernen said, who was a two-time all-state player coming into the season. "We gave it full force and our forwards tried to get passes through and tried to score."
"We have Hannah, who really takes the team on her back. She's an amazing player. I think she just gave it one last push with every ounce of energy she had left in her to create some opportunities," Ziperski said.
Sugar River struggled all game to match the physicality and speed of Edgewood, but in the 28th minute, the Raiders found new life and tied the score at 1-1.
Kernen, who won her third straight Capitol Conference player of the year, dribbled through the defense and found Trisha Boley out in front of the net. Boley, who scored the game-tying goal against McFarland in the regional final a week ago in nearly the exact same situation, put the ball in the back of the net.
"I got through (the defense) and I saw Trisha open up, so I passed it. She was in the right place at the right time," Kernen said.
Ziperski was pleased with how far his sophomore forward has come.
"I have to give a lot of credit to Trisha. We had a knee injury to Michelle Disch and (Boley) has done some amazing things in the postseason," he said. "We call her 'Super Sub.' It was nice for her to go out there and get that for us. She calls it (where she was) lucky, I call it smart."
Edgewood took an early lead in the second minute on a deep bomb by Claire Kinderman that went over Sugar River goalie Natalie Manion. But Boley's goal gave the team new life.
"I don't think anyone expected this from us this year," Kernen said. "After losing a lot of people and have a lot of freshmen come in this year, I think next year we will be even better. I think we'll go far next year."
Even though the season is over for Sugar River, which finished 21-4 overall, Ziperski knows who all is coming back. This year's team was without a single senior.
"The future looks bright," he said. "We had some stumbles along the way this year, but I think those stumbles will help make us a stronger team. We were learning all year and we were young. Not anymore though, we'll be seniors soon."
