BELLEVILLE — What was a bit of a surprising 2-0 game at halftime turned into a 10-0 mercy rule finish with just seconds to spare. That advanced Sugar River (16-3-1) past Monroe (2-14-1) in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal game on June 2. Two days later, the Raiders took care of business against Platteville-Lancaster (12-5-1) 3-1 to reach the sectional semifinal at top-ranked McFarland (17-2-1).

Monroe was playing without starting defender Marlies Brandli, who broker her femur in the last game of the regular season. In order to give the team a bit of a jolt in confidence, first-year coach Hannah Ormson changed up the lineup a bit in a one-time-only move. 

“It was an incredible performance by all of them. We used the full extent of our bench — every single player including our varsity reserve,” Ormson said. “That first half, that was the best soccer I’ve seen them play all year. I knew there were capable of it on Day 1, and it makes me excited that next year we get to hit the ground running with this — with hopefully less injuries.”

Atziry Ocampo, Addison Bartholf and Karlee Boll typical share the rotating midfield positions, but Ocampo and Boll dropped back to play defense against Sugar River’s high-powered offense. The move worked early on, with both speedsters halting potential breakaway shot attempts.

“We had some scouting information as to what Belleville might come at us with — trying a 3-5-2. We knew there would be more forwards coming at us, and that they were going to be aggressive. With that in mind, I didn’t want to gas out our defense in the first 10 minutes,” Ormson said. “For tonight, it’s what we had to do, but moving on for next year, it’s not a formation we will stick with. I like having our offensive moments, and this team, I believe, has the athleticism and skills to be a great offensive team.”

Mixed in with some stellar saves from keeper Kaelyn Welch, the Cheesemakers held the Raiders at bay for much of the first 40 minutes.

“Kaelyn played a phenomenal game tonight. She was horizontal more times than I can count. There were times where I had no idea how she had vision of the ball and she made the stops,” Ormson said. “She was exactly what we needed her to be tonight.

Sugar River, ranked No. 9 in Division 3, wasn’t without prime opportunities either, and the two goals, by Bella Brenkman at 12:10 and Haley Thompson at 17:55, weren’t convincing enough for coach John Ziperski.

“We mixed up the roster quite a bit and tried to get some people in that didn’t get as many minutes the last couple of games, but we definitely wanted to find a little bit more of an identity,” Ziperski said. “I wasn’t upset or ever felt in that first half like we had any issues, but I did impress upon them at halftime that our forwards have to start finishing. We’ve had a few games that have been close and we haven’t finished, which kept teams in it.”

In the second half, Welch continued to dazzle — finishing with 16 saves in the game — but the continued onslaught by the Raiders offense eventually pushed the game out of reach.

Thompson scored in the 44th minute to make it a 3-0 game. Anya Brenkman added a goal in the 49th minute, then Samantha Schiro burst onto the scene, scoring three goals in a stretch of just 3 ½ minutes.

“She’s a special case, because this year she was concussed for 13 games. She had a good start of the season, then she was out for quite some time. I think it was special for her to come in and have a great day, especially as a senior to have a game like that,” Ziperski said.

Anya Brenkman then scored 32 seconds apart in the 79th and 80th minute, and Callie Smith added the final goal 18 seconds later to end the game 25 seconds early.

Madi Winterburn, Paige Leonard, Hannah Boldebuck and Abby Hendrickson all had one assist for Sugar River, while Anya Brenkman had two assists to go with her hat trick. Sugar River outshot Monroe 26-1.

“We know we get tired, but we pushed our hardest the whole time,” said senior captain Alexis Stoychoff. “Yeah, when you look at the scoreboard it kind of sucks, but we kept pushing, and we kept pushing to the last minute. That’s what we’ve always done this season.”

Coming together amid adversity

Mired with inconsistency at best, the past decade has been trouble for the Cheesemakers soccer program. From winless and 1-win seasons, to a lost campaign due to COVID-19 and three coaches in three seasons, the senior class has seen it all. Even still, they stuck together — not just as the Class of 2022, but as a program from freshmen through seniors. This years’ squad had played from all four classes starting together on the pitch each night.

“It’s amazing that I’ve been able to play with these girls — they are all awesome. I wouldn’t take any single one of them for granted. This is a great team,” said senior Hailey Stoychoff. “I thought it was so awesome to play with these same girls I’ve played ever since moving here. I think it’s so awesome to finish the season with at least two wins. That’s the best that we’ve done in a long time.”

Hailey Stoychoff and twin sister Alexis have played many years together. Hailey credits their communication in the field for understanding what’s happening across the field.

“I just think it’s a nice clique that we have, because we’ve been playing for a while together,” Hailey said.

Alexis was named as the team captain earlier in the season, and she took her leadership responsibilities to heart.

“I went into being a captain this year knowing it was going to be a tough job,” Alexis said. “But these girls made it easy on me. We all get along. We’re like family. We’re together on and off the field. It’s just a great environment to be in. We just lead with love — no matter our record or the score, we always come back to our friendship and our love for each other.”

Alexis said she’d hold these friends near and dear to her heart, and hopes to come back from college next spring to see her teammates play, and how much they’ve grown.

Ormson acknowledged the team battled injuries and overcame adversity throughout the season, though it didn’t always show up on the scoreboard. The program had a large junior varsity presence, and the program doubled in size from a year ago. This season of bonding and growth could set up the program for an even bigger improvement in 2023.

“These girls are family. That was my goal this season, that they would come together as sisters, and they did. Tonight, my speech before the game was to play for our seniors; play for Marlies, who is injured; and play for each other, and that’s what they did. They fought for every 50/50 ball and truly came together as a team,” Ormson said. “I just love these girls, and I’m not sure there’s anything more to say than that. I’m really looking forward to picking up next year where we’re leaving off.”

Moving on

The Raiders (16-3-1) had to play the regional final at noon on June 4 due to graduation and field availability. 

Lainey Winkers, Riley O’Flanagan and Anya Brenkman all scored in the regional final. Lily Maynard, Lola Endicott and Anya Brenkman all had assists.

Earlier this season on May 6, Sugar River lost to McFarland 6-1. The Spartans lone losses this season came at Division 1 No. 6 Verona (14-1-1) and Division 2 No. 1 Oregon (19-0), with a tie at Division 1 No. 4 Waunakee (19-1-2). All three teams cruised into the regionals in their own postseason campaigns.