VERONA — For the seventh time in eight years, Sugar River and McFarland met in the postseason. Each meeting prior, the Spartans ended the Raiders’ season in heartbreak. This year, though, Sugar River rewrote the history books with a 4-3 win over McFarland in a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal game on Thursday, Oct. 26.
“We got them earlier in the regular season pretty good, but we knew after they beat the Dells that they had a lot of momentum coming in,” senior Jack Leonard said, referencing his team’s 5-1 win in the regular season. “We had to come ready to play. We were hungry for this one. They’ve gotten us the past few years.”
Sugar River controlled the game for much of the first half. The Raiders put multiple shots on net before Aiden Hatleberg put the Raiders on the board in the 10th minute. Brycen Teasdale passed up to Nathan Hendrickson, who fed Hatleberg for the goal. With 10 minutes left in the first half, Hatleberg extended his team’s lead to 2-0 on a header with an assist from Leonard off the free kick.
The momentum didn’t stay with Sugar River for long, as McFarland gained more possession in the closing final minutes of the first frame. The Spartans scored on a penalty kick from Niko Dabetic with two seconds left in the half.
The first 20 minutes of the second period were scoreless despite two yellow cards being issued — one for each team. Reid Nolden’s goal broke the second-half stalemate, shifting momentum to Sugar River’s side. Just five minutes later, the Raiders took a 4-1 lead as Halteberg completed his hat trick.
“After that goal, the crowd was going. That gets me happy,” Nolden said. “It gets the other team down, which gives us momentum. We can beat them up after that.”
McFarland didn’t hang its head for long, though. In a span of three minutes, Ty Sampson scored twice to make it a one-goal game.
Sugar River held its opponent off for the final 13 minutes — aided by two more yellow cards on the Spartans — to secure the 4-3 victory.
“They fought back and worked hard,” Leonard said. “We gave them a few goals. It shouldn’t have happened, but that’s what soccer is about.”
