BELLEVILLE — The celebration on the Raiders sideline was palpable across the Belleville Sports Complex Sept. 22, as Sugar River finished a come-from-behind victory over previously unbeaten Lake Mills, 2-1.
“I’m just proud of our guys. We have trouble finishing games and tonight we finally found a way to finish,” Sugar River coach Robert Gentilli said. “We knew they were good. We knew they could come out and play and it could potentially come down to a tie.” The coaching staff’s message to their players were to “be patient; come to the ball first.”
Throughout the game, the Raiders had ample opportunities to put the ball in net, but by hook or by crook, the ball either landed just a half a step too far on a rush, or an offside was called.
“We had opportunities. We left a lot out there,” Gentilli said. “And they (Lake Mills) did, too. I give them a lot of credit. … They played a lot better. I was impressed with Lake Mills.”
However, a pair of Raiders made the most of two opportunities each. Lake Mills’ Brayden Ciesiolka broke the ice with a goal just 43 seconds before halftime. As the L-Cats celebrated, Lake Mills goalie Curtis Galstad yelled to his teammates “No goals, 40 seconds!”
His teammates obliged for 42 of the 43 remaining seconds. That final second was up to Galstad, as Sugar River’s Ryan Downing had put a charge into the ball after a breakaway run. Galstad was unable to knock it down, and Downing’s shot clanked off the left post and into the back of the net a fraction of a second before the halftime horn went off.
“Ryan was a little banged up, too. At times you saw him turn it on and at times you saw him not. That was a time he turned it on, and there’s not a lot of guys who can keep up with Ryan. He’s a senior; he’s in great shape; he’s fast, quick,” Gentilli said. “One move at it would be tough to catch him. He made the right move. It was good timing. We needed something, because we felt a little down. Once Lake Mills scored you thought, ‘Oh no.’ You could tell it was a game now.”
In just a matter of moments, the momentum had swung to the home side.
“We just wanted to score. We didn’t want it to be 1-0 going into the half,” Downing said.
In the second half, it was Sugar River’s front man Aiden Hatleberg’s turn to make a play. Hampered down and marked by a defender throughout the contest, Hatleberg rarely had a clean touch look at the net. But in the 70th minute, a Lake Mills player was called for a push just outside the box on a 50/50 ball off of a set piece.
Hatleberg rested the ball in place and turned to his teammate for advice. The kick, already from the right side of the post, bent around the outside of the 3-man L-Cat wall, and then curled back just enough to sneak past the right post — and the diving arms of Galstad.
“I was ready to score. I just wanted to put it in. I asked my teammate where I should put it, and I put it exactly there. It felt good,” Hatleberg said, adding that he practices that exact kick “literally every day.”
The goal, which came at the 69:38 mark, gave the Raiders a chance to not only celebrate, but to breathe and believe.
“It was a beautiful kick,” Gentilli said. “Like I said — we had our opportunities. It was just about being patient and possess(ing the ball). You control the game — don’t let them control the tempo.”
Kleiboer finished the night with 20 saves. The Raiders (7-1-2, 4-0 Capitol) out-shot Lake Mills (10-1-1, 2-1) 30-20.
“Lake Mills definitely came at us with everything they possible had. Cam is a very agile, strong-willed goalie. He’s quick; he’s fast; he could play almost any position on the field if I wanted him to. But he’s got really good hands and he knows the game really well,” Gentilli said. “It’s nice to have him back there.”
Downing and Hatleberg are tied atop the league in scoring with 12 goals each. Downing has seven assists to Hatleberg’s three.
“They marked (Hatleberg) the whole game, which is great strategy,” Gentilli said of Lake Mills. To counter the move, Gentilli had Hatleberg move back and forth around the field to take Lake Mills’ center back out of a lot of the plays, thus also opening up space for other Raiders, like Downing, to try to take advantage. It allowed Ryan a little more room to run.”
Lake Mills picked up its offense as the minutes wound down. In the final five minutes alone, Raider defenders got a foot — or a leg — on the ball routinely in the box, stifling L-Cat advances. Sugar River keeper Cam Kleiboer made multiple saves in net as well, fueling the confidence of the Raiders’ defense.
Sugar River left the pitch sitting alone at the top of the league table with 12 points. Wisconsin Dells and Watertown Luther Prep each have nine, and Lake Mills is at six. There are just three weeks left in the regular season, and the Raiders still have to face Wisconsin Dells (6-0, 3-0), Luther Prep (5-4, 3-1), Cambridge-Deerfield (1-5-1, 0-1-1) and Wisconsin Heights-Barneveld (3-5, 1-2). The final game of the regular season (Oct. 14), is a nonconference affair against River Valley.
“We’re going to do the best we can in practices and getting better every day. We’re just going to keep going,” Hatleberg said. “Lake Mills was really physical, but we could withstand that.”
