BELLEVILLE — The Sugar River Raiders are Capitol Conference champions again after knocking off Watertown Luther Prep and Lakeside Lutheran last week. It’s the third straight title for Sugar River (15-1-4, 6-0 Capitol).

The Raiders edged Luther Prep 1-0 on May 16 and then sunk Lakeside Lutheran 8-0 the next night.

In the win over Luther Prep, Ellie Gentilli scored Sugar River’s only goal on a pass from Kirsten Krantz just 5:20 into the game. Raiders goalkeeper Rachael Heittola needed to make just one save in net, and Sugar River outshot Luther Prep 7-1.

In the win over Lakeside Lutheran, Sugar River scored four goals in each half. Morgan Hustad opened the scoring at the 5:31 mark, with Gentilli scoring on another pass from Krantz less than five minutes later. 

Kallie Ace scored at 39:14 to make it 3-0, and immediately afterwards Callie Smith took a pass and put it into the back of the next just 14 seconds after play had resumed from the previous goal.

Krantz scored 78 seconds in the second half on a pass from Regyn Jelle to put the Raiders up 5-0. Hustad, Smith and Jaylynn Benson all scored second half goals as well. Ace and Krantz collected assists.

Heittola had two saves in net, and freshman backup keeper Morgan Thompson had one.

In other area action, Monroe lost 3-0 at Fort Atkinson May 16.

WIAA postseason matchups released

The WIAA released the girls soccer seedings May 17, and both the Cheesemakers and Raiders have a tough road ahead in the Division 3 bracket.

Sugar River (15-1-4), ranked eighth in the state in the most recent Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll (May 14), received a No. 3 seed in the sectional and host Cambridge-Deerfield (1-8-2) May 28. The winner takes on either Mauston (8-8-3) or sixth-seeded Platteville-Lancaster (10-4-2).

Monroe (0-15-1) received a 15-seed and travels to second-seeded and fourth-ranked McFarland (14-0-2) on May 28. An upset win would pit the Cheesemakers against either West Salem (14-3-1) or Dodgeville-Mineral Point (11-7). Monroe lost to D-MP 2-1 at home April 22.

Edgewood (11-2-2), ranked third, received the No. 1 seed in the sectional, and Mount Horeb (9-4-2) grabbed the No. 4. 

A year ago, Sugar River knocked off both Mount Horeb and Edgewood en route to a state berth. The Raiders eventually lost to Green Bay Notre Dame in the state semifinals.

The Raiders lost the opening game of the season to Edgewood 2-0, tied McFarland and Mount Horeb, and beat D-MP, C-D and Platteville-Lancaster.

Monroe lost to Platteville-Lancaster and Sugar River by 5 each game, was drubbed by McFarland 11-0 and Edgewood 9-0.