NEW GLARUS — Sugar River, honoring its six seniors from New Glarus, was hoping for a signature win over Wisconsin Dells on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Instead, the Chiefs, ranked No. 6 in Division 3 per the latest WisSports.net Coaches Poll, kept their undefeated season alive with a 3-0 win over the Raiders.
“A win would have been really nice,” Sugar River head coach Bob Gentilli said. “It sounds cliche, but there is a lot we can take from this. A loss isn’t a bad thing right now. We are taking away more from the loss than we would have with a win.”
Sugar River played defense much of the contest, as Wisconsin Dells came in averaging 7.26 goals per game. The Chiefs nearly struck 29 minutes in the first half, but Matthew Makowski’s goal was called off. Not only was he offsides, but he ran into Raider goalkeeper, Clayton Streiff.
Both teams had free-kick opportunities in the first frame. Tikeh Tazeh’s kick sailed over the net, and Streiff made the save with another defender rushing at him, ready for the rebound.
But, the half ended without a goal from either squad.
Wisconsin Dells picked up where it left off, maintaining possession of the ball. The Chiefs put multiple shots in the direction of the net, but none of them were on target for Streiff to make a save.
It wasn’t until Ryan Sabey dribbled into three defenders and drew a foul that Wisconsin Heights actually put one in the net at 46:24. Sabey received a penalty kick and stuffed it in the lower corner, just a tick sooner than Streiff who dove in that direction to make a save.
The Chiefs had multiple opportunities to extend their lead near the 60-minute mark. Twice, Streiff made a diving save, but the rebound trickled over the end line, resulting in a corner kick. The Raider defense, which shut out the entire Capitol Conference, was able to clear each corner-kick attempt.
Sugar River’s greatest scoring chance came at 73:38. Dylan Brooks drew a foul, and Drew Brueggemann took the free kick. His lob in front of the net didn’t connect with a single Raider and didn’t get to the net.
With just three minutes left in the game, it appeared Sugar River would suffer its third 1-0 loss to a ranked team, but Wisconsin Dells had other plans. Sebastian Raskevicious-Marchena scored off a deflection, and just a minute later, Max Makowski headed one past Streiff.
“It was tight the whole game until the last five minutes, I’d say. We let off the gas a little bit and let those two goals in that we shouldn’t have, but it was a lot closer than people would think,” senior defender Breckyn Thompson said.
Despite the loss, Thompson and the rest of the team knows it will only make them better for the postseason, which begins next week.
“It’s good to get us ready and to know what to expect and how we will have to play in the playoffs to make it far,” Thompson said.
Sugar River has been tested multiple times this season — playing one Division 1 team, two Division 2 teams and three ranked Division 3 teams — resulting in their only losses and ties. Also propelling the Raiders in the playoffs is true home-field advantage.
Before the construction of the New Glarus Glarner Knight Community Complex and turf field, the Raiders were unable to host a playoff game. Their home field in Belleville is shared with the football team and made of natural grass, which prevents Sugar River from hosting per WIAA regulations. In the past, the team has played ‘home’ playoff games at Verona High School, Madison College and Mount Horeb High School. Now, the team will be able to stay at home and play on the turf field. Fifth-seeded Sugar River will host 12-seed Whitewater in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal on Thursday, Oct. 24.
In other local soccer, Monroe dropped its first Rock Valley Conference tournament game to Jefferson, 2-1.
