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Raiders fall short vs. McFarland, 3-2
Sugar River’s Season Comes To An End In Sectional Semifinal
sugar river mcfarland
McFarland goalkeeper Jayla Moore makes a mid-air diving stop on a Sugar River corner kick during a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal at New Glarus on June 12. Visiting McFarland defeated Sugar River 3-2, but lost two days later to Madison Edgewood 4-1. Edgewood and McFarland have faced off in each of the past four sectional finals. - photo by Mark Evenstad

NEW GLARUS — The girls soccer season came to a halt for the Sugar River Raiders in the Division 3 Sectional Semifinal as the McFarland Spartans edged the Raiders 3-2 on Thursday, June 12. 

Senior Anya Brenkman got the Raiders on the board first with an unassisted goal at 6:02, giving Sugar River a 1-0 lead. But McFarland answered with a goal in the 17th minute to make the score 1-1. The Spartans (No. 3 seed) got another unassisted goal about three minutes later to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. 

The start of the second half would prove to be pivotal. If the Raiders (No. 2 seed) could score, the match would be tied. But, McFarland got an unassisted goal in the 44th minute to take a 3-1 lead. The Raiders’ Anya Brenkman scored a goal on a penalty kick at 76:24 to draw Sugar River to within 3-2, but the Raiders could not come up with a scoring threat in the final minutes and the Spartans upended the Raiders. 

Senior Mackenzie Ohms had five saves for Sugar River as the Raiders saw their season end with a record of 19-3-1. 

With two goals in the sectional semifinal, Anya Brenkman finished her career with 159 goals and 55 assists, good enough to rank in the Top 5 All-Time according to Wisconsin Prep Stats for career goals and total points. This season, she scored 53 goals and added 20 assists, ranking her in the top three in state for goals and points, and breaking her own season record from last year of 50 goals.

While it was a tough loss, Super River head coach John Ziperski said there were many things to be proud of. 

“We secured an eighth straight Capitol Conference championship, and a 10th straight regional title,” he said. “We earned a No. 2 seed in the postseason, and we scored over 100 goals (103) for the season in 23 games. We had a team GPA of 3.76, earning our United Soccer Coaches Association Academic Team for ninth straight year, earning a USC Platinum Ethics award (0 Yellow cards) — for the third time, which is a Wisconsin State record, and qualify for the USC Pinnacle Award (Ethics, Academics, Winning percentage) for the fifth time in the last six years, a Wisconsin State record and amongst only a handful of teams in the Nation to earn it more than five times ever.” 

Ten seniors graduate from the Sugar River team. They include; Mackenzie Ohms, Zoey Lovejoy, Waverly Kalstrup, Kylie Humke, Delaney Hoeper, Anya Brenkman, Audry Brueggemann, Hannah Boldebuck, Danica Nelson and Eve Maclean.