BELLEVILLE — The Sugar River boys’ soccer team (16-1-1, 8-0) defeated Cambridge/Deerfield (7-7-1, 3-24-1) 3-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 11 to claim the Capitol title outright.
“Cambridge came in with a 7-6 record, so we knew it would be a pretty good challenge for us,” Sugar River head coach Robert Gentilli said. “Our guys were pretty pumped up. They knew we could at least share conference, but in order to win it outright, we had to beat Cambridge.”
The pre-game hype paid off, as Reid Nolden put the Raiders on the board jut three minutes into the game. Breckyn Thompson was credited with the assist.
Later in the half, Aiden Hatleberg scored to give Sugar River a 2-0 lead. Brady Mousseau recorded the assist.
Hatleberg has 25 goals this season. The next best scorer on the team is Jack Leonard with six goals.
Hatleberg picked up another point, as he connected with Eli Leonard for the Raiders’ third and final goal.
Defensively, Clayton Streiff tallied five saves and didn’t allow a goal. The shut out is the Raiders’ 11th of the season and third straight.
“We knew if we could contain them and not give them a window to shoot in, we would be good,” Gentilli said of their defensive strategy. “Our defenders are pretty tall. We had some height on them.”
Sugar River received a first-round bye in the WIAA tournament and won’t play until Thursday, Oct. 20. The team will host its opponent at Verona’s Reddan Park.
“We would love to be on our home field,” Gentilli said. “The problem with not having your own field is, we will play at Reddan on Thursday and hopefully play at Mount Horeb on Saturday if we win. The venues are going to change. You’re going from grass to turf, it’s hard.”
With just one loss and tie on the season, the Raiders are ready for the challenge.
PORTAGE/POYNETTE 3, MONROE 1
MONROE — After a 10-0 loss on Thursday, the Monroe Cheesemakers (0-18, 0-7 Badger West) improved for a 1-3 loss to Portage/Poynette (10-12, 1-6) on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Monroe jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first and maintained it going into the second half.
That’s when Portage/Poynette went off for its three goals. Dylan Trudell scored the first goal three minutes into the half and assisted Emmett Brockley for the second. Jacob Trudell capped the scoring with his goal in the final minute.
In goal Griffin Butson allowed just one goal while recording two saves.
With the regular season at an end, Monroe will host Prairie du Chien/River Ridge/Seneca Falls at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18 for the regional quarterfinal.
