The Sugar River Raiders are heading to the WIAA Division 3 girls soccer sectionals after wins in the regionals over Monroe and Lakeside Lutheran.
On Thursday, June 4, the No. 2 seeded Raiders shut out the No. 15 seeded Monroe Cheesemakers 8-0 in a regional semifinal. The Raiders jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead.
Junior Nikole Schultz got the first goal for Sugar River on an assist by Ella Woodmansee at 9:07. Schultz and Woodmansee teamed up on another goal at 13:40 to make it 2-0. Schultz got her third goal of the first half with an assist by senior Taya Gilbertson at 30:04 to put the Raiders up 3-0 at the end of the first half.
In the second half, the Raiders took control with junior Kate Parman scoring at 41:14 on an assist by Schultz to make it 4-0. Senior Toria Devoe scored a goal at 44:05 on Woodmansee’s assist to make it a 5-0 Sugar River lead. Schultz connected for her fourth goal of the night on Woodmansee’s third assist at 44:32, giving the Raiders a 6-0 lead. Freshman Libby Iserloth converted a penalty kick at 46:01 for a 7-0 lead and Devoe scored a goal on an assist by senior Kennedi Esser at 79:07 to make it an 8-0 final.
Senior Savannah Minter played all 80 minutes in goal for the Raiders and helped Sugar River get its 14th shutout of the season. Senior Kennedy Voegeli had 14 saves in 45 minutes as goalkeeper for Monroe and senior Laila Greely had eight saves in 35 minutes in goal for the Cheesemakers.
Monroe finished their season 1-10-2 and Cheesemaker coach Samantha Rudi said the whole season was a great learning experience for her team.
“I‘m so proud of our team. From where we started with, I think, half of our team never playing organized soccer until now, playing against this team (Sugar River) which we know is very talented. We’re trying to build our program up and I’m very proud of the girls and what they’ve shown,” said Rudi.
Sugar River coach John Ziperski was happy with getting a win to begin the post-season.
“The post-season is an opportunity for some of our youth to get a look at the field. We had opportunities today for that, which was great. We talked about the level that we need to continue to maintain and I was happy with that, and giving 10 seniors some opportunities to continue their careers for a little longer,” said Ziperski.
Regional Final
Sugar River 4, Lakeside Lutheran 0
The Raiders hosted the No. 7 seeded Lakeside Lutheran Warriors for the regional championship on Saturday, June 6.
Junior Holly Maynard gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead with a goal at 34:54 assisted by Parman. The Raiders held a slim 1-0 lead at halftime but came alive in the second half.
The Warriors kept the pressure on early in the second half, but the Raiders kept Lakeside Lutheran off the board. Sophomore Sophie Vazquez gave the Raiders some breathing room with a goal at 62:15 assisted by Maynard for a 2-0 Raiders lead. Parman broke through for a goal assisted by senior Cora Funseth at 69:44 that gave the Raiders a 3-0 advantage. Devoe got into the open and scored a goal assisted by senior Bailey McGuire at 74:40 that sealed it for the Raiders at 4-0.
Ziperski said the Raiders made some second half adjustments to keep their edge.
“Lakeside Lutheran has some excellent players that we had to keep track of and in the second half we made some adjustments to try to trap that player and I think Taya (Gilbertson) did a great job of doing that,” said Ziperski.
Savannah Minter had nine saves as the goalkeeper as the Raiders notched their 15th shutout of the season.
Sugar River (16-5-1) will host Delavan-Darien in a sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 11.
