BELLEVILLE — Even when not at their best, the Sugar River Raiders can still overwhelm their opponents. Such was the case June 12, when the sixth-ranked Raiders dominated Edgerton 7-1 to win their sixth straight regional championship and 10th in the past 11 seasons.
“I think it took a while to find our touches, and to adjust to the heat. I thought we played it slow to the ball a few too many times — those kinds of things,” Sugar River coach John Ziperski said. “We made an adjustment at halftime and then it started clicking. It was a better second half, for sure.”
Jaylynn Benson scored four times, with Riley O’Flanagan, Emma Anson and Bella Brenkman all adding second half goals for Sugar River. The Raiders outshot the Crimson Tide 20-4.
For Benson, the three goals made it 21 on the season — and 10 in her last three games as she has caught fire down the stretch.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Benson said.
The Raiders pressured Edgerton from the start, but much of the offense seemed to be about a half of a step away from hitting it big. Benson broke a 0-0 tie with a one-on-one goal at the 16:30 mark in the first half, with Francesca Schiro assisting. The lead was short-lived, as Edgerton equalized on a nifty goal by Lizzy Gould, which flew just over the outstretched hands of Morgan Thompson from a tough angle in traffic.
“I definitely struggled earlier with it,” Benson said of breakaway goals, “but I’ve got it down now, I think. You get a little rush, that’s for sure.”
Benson scored again in the 35th minute with Lily Maynard assisting, sending the two teams into halftime separated at 2-1.
“He just told us to really focus on our possession and to clean it up; pass to people. We knew what we needed to do and we just weren’t doing it,” Benson said.
It took 10 minutes into the second half for Benson to cap her hat trick, scoring off an assist from Regyn Jelle. Less than four minutes later she splashed her fourth game of the game into the back of the net.
Six minutes later, in the 66th minute, O’Flanagan scored on a cross from Libby Maclean. Ten minutes later, Anson scored falling down inside the box in traffic on a set piece pass from Abby Hendrickson. The ball got stuck in the top of the net.
“That was kind of fun for her,” Ziperski said of Anson. “She’s kind of a funny girl.”
The scoring wasn’t done, however, with Elise Medenwald sending another set piece into the box, with freshman Bella Brenkman heading it in at the 80:07 mark.
“We kind of live and die on some of those things,” Ziperski said of set pieces. “Kind of our signature is off of corners. We have a lot of girls that can put a lot of dangerous places, and some that can finish with their head, which is nice. I was happy to see some of those convert — and I was happy to see some of those girls score besides Jaylynn — it’s an extra bonus for them,” Ziperski said.
Two days before the win over Edgerton, Sugar River ran amok on Jefferson, 9-0. The Raiders scored three times in the first half, and six more after the break. Benson scored three goals, Callie Smith had two, and Brenkman, Melanie Humke and Carrah Bainbridge each had a goal.
The Raiders (14-1), get another Rock Valley foe to continue the route to state. After beating Jefferson and Edgerton in the regional tournament, Sugar River will host Evansville (11-4) in the sectional semifinal June 17.
“Evansville is a terrific team with good possession. We played them once before, and I don’t like to play teams twice because it’s hard to beat them two or three times in a season,” Ziperski said. Sugar River beat the Blue Devils 3-0 on May 21.
The winner will get either top-ranked McFarland (12-0) or Edgewood (6-4-1).
“I think all of the seniors have something to prove. We didn’t get a shot last year. We have a lot of experience with winning — going to state freshman year and almost going as sophomores. That’s definitely our goal and we know we can do it.”
