NEW GLARUS — For the second time this season, Sugar River and Monroe played a soccer match to the final seconds. The first time around, back in early September, the two teams ran to a 1-1 draw. This time around, in the second round of the playoffs, Sugar River eked out a 1-0 victory.

The two teams ran to a 0-0 tie through not just the first half, but the first 67 minutes.

“It was a great game. We kept our composure. We knew that they would come after us,” Sugar River coach Bob Gentilli said “(Monroe coach Matt Coplien) has done a great job with those guys.”

Drew Brueggemann, the Raiders’ leading scorer this season, netted the game’s lone goal in the 68th minute.

“We can’t just rely on Drew (Brueggemann),” Gentilli said. “They doubled him, if not tripled him. They had four or five guys back there.”

Both teams had opportunities to score, with goalkeepers for both squads coming up with timely saves. In the first half, Monroe keeper Barrett Brandli made a pair of back-to-back saves that had the visiting crowd chanting “Brick Wall Barrett.” On the opposite end of the pitch, Sugar River’s Taydon DeRouin made big stops as well. Only once was he off his line and let the ball slip past him. With just one minute left in the game, DeRouin found himself out of position on a hard rush and the net seemingly open for a goal. However, Monroe’s shot clanked off the far left post and was quickly booted out of bounds so the defense could reset itself.

“The most important rule in life is that life isn’t fair. You’re gonna hit some posts in life, and that’s just what it is,” Coplien said. “The boys know that, and that’s what athletics is all about — learning life lessons.”

Gentilli commended Monroe for coming out with a lot of energy and maintaining it throughout the game.

“Those were two good shots they could have had. It was a really good game that could have gone either way,” Gentilli said.

Coplien told his players after the game how proud he and the rest of the coaching staff were of them. The Cheesemakers came into the season needing to replace it’s entire defensive line, including two first-team all-conference defenders.

“These guys stepped up and just played amazing. There’s nothing to hang their heads about,” Coplien said.

His team will graduate just two seniors this year, so the bulk of his players will be back next fall.

“We weren’t expected to win the game. We were a 12-seed. But they are all high schoolers out there, and on any given day, anyone could get lucky,” Coplien said.

Putting Brandli, who started the year as a defender, back in net wasn’t a hard decision to make either. A year ago he was honorable all-conference as a sophomore.

“We decided to change up to a 5-3-2, which meant we could bring some speedier guys like Sullivan (Baker) in to play our fullback spot,” Coplien said “We put Barrett back in net, and he’s a hell of an athlete and we’re just super proud of the way he stepped up for his team.

Up next for the Raiders is a 4 p.m. Oct. 24 regional championship at Stoughton.

“I haven’t paid a lot of attention to Stoughton, to be honest with you,” Gentilli said. “But all these teams, from the 13-seed to the top seed — they can beat anyone. In the end, you’ve still got to score more goals then they do.”