BELLEVILLE - The Sugar River Raiders started off the conference soccer season with a strong statement on Thursday in a win against Lake Mills, 5-0.
"It was nice to open conference play with a quality win against a good team," Raiders coach John Ziperski said. "We didn't really know what to expect with the game tonight. Our game against DeForest on Tuesday was tough, so we didn't know how we would start tonight."
The Raiders responded accordingly. Vanessa Narveson was the first to get Sugar River on the scoreboard. The sophomore was able to connect on the assist from Brianne Kreklow at 10 minutes, 48 seconds into the game. From there on out, the Raiders put together a barrage of goals in the first half.
Narveson again scored at 13:40 on the assist from Nicole Sanders, while teammates Ja-ae Borth, Taylor Halvensleben, and Hannah Donlin each added their own goals to give the Raiders a comfortable team against a formidable opponent.
" Lake Mills is no slouch," said Ziperski. "They gave us problems last year, so it was nice to see the progress that our team has made, especially since we are a young team."
The Raiders utilized their collective efforts as a team to find holes in the L-Cats defense and capitalize on the opportunities.
"We played strong once the thirteenth minute came around," Ziperski said. "Granted once the game got in its later stages, we started to get off track a little bit, (but) I'm really proud with the way we were able to control our possessions and create passing lanes for open players."
The Raiders will host Poynette and Stoughton on Saturday, April 12.
"It was nice to open conference play with a quality win against a good team," Raiders coach John Ziperski said. "We didn't really know what to expect with the game tonight. Our game against DeForest on Tuesday was tough, so we didn't know how we would start tonight."
The Raiders responded accordingly. Vanessa Narveson was the first to get Sugar River on the scoreboard. The sophomore was able to connect on the assist from Brianne Kreklow at 10 minutes, 48 seconds into the game. From there on out, the Raiders put together a barrage of goals in the first half.
Narveson again scored at 13:40 on the assist from Nicole Sanders, while teammates Ja-ae Borth, Taylor Halvensleben, and Hannah Donlin each added their own goals to give the Raiders a comfortable team against a formidable opponent.
" Lake Mills is no slouch," said Ziperski. "They gave us problems last year, so it was nice to see the progress that our team has made, especially since we are a young team."
The Raiders utilized their collective efforts as a team to find holes in the L-Cats defense and capitalize on the opportunities.
"We played strong once the thirteenth minute came around," Ziperski said. "Granted once the game got in its later stages, we started to get off track a little bit, (but) I'm really proud with the way we were able to control our possessions and create passing lanes for open players."
The Raiders will host Poynette and Stoughton on Saturday, April 12.
