MONROE - Sugar River senior Jared Widish always looks forward to one particular nonconference game: Monroe.
Widish scored one goal and had one assist to propel the Raiders to a 4-1 win over Monroe Saturday at Honey Creek Park.
"It's always nice to beat Monroe," Widish said. "Every year we know it will be a tough game. We know coming in it will be super physical. Winning the rivalry game is always nice because it makes it even better."
Widish scored the first goal on a play when it looked like Monroe junior goalie Deven Schulte would make the save. Widish caught the Cheesemakers off-guard by taking a quick shot off a set play and the ball glanced off Schulte's hands before finding the back of the net at 18 minutes, 22 seconds. Sugar River senior Brock Kelly scored a goal on a penalty kick at 28:36 to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead at the half.
"We made some mistakes that kind of put us in a hole," Monroe coach Tony Vasquez said. "I thought we possessed the ball more than we have been."
Sugar River sophomore Matteo Latorre scored a goal at 48:07 to extend the Raiders' lead to 3-0.
The lone Cheesemakers' goal came on a header by senior Nick Benkert at 76:32. A throw in by Daniel Lapp allowed junior teammate Nick Schumacher to head the ball to Benkert. The goal cut the Raiders' lead to 3-1.
"It gave us hope," Benkert said. "Hope is a big thing. It felt really good scoring it, but I knew I knew I hit Aaron (Ziolkowski)."
Benkert understood the importance of the game against Sugar River, which is the top team now in the Capitol Conference.
"They are in our playoff tournament at the end of the year," he said. "It would have been nice to get a win against them because it would help us with seeding. I feel like we played a good game. A few of our mistakes led to their shots and goals. I guess they were just good finishers."
Sugar River junior Jack Gentilli scored a goal on an assist by Widish at 79:59 to give his team a three-goal lead again.
Raiders senior goalie Tyler Boeck had 14 saves, and Sugar River outshot the Cheesemakers 20-14. Schulte had 15 saves. With the win, the Raiders improve to 9-3-3 overall and 3-0 in the Capitol Conference. With the loss, the Cheesemakers drop to 4-5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Badger South.
"We always want to be a high pressure team at the end of the game," Sugar River coach Kyle Webber said. "The key is to be relentless on offense."
Vasquez likes the way Schulte remained aggressive coming out of the box to make several critical saves.
"He's been playing really well lately," Vasquez said of Schulte. "We have been trying to get him to be more mobile and help us by coming out more. He did a perfect job today. Any long balls he played it back to the opponents' side of the field."
Sugar River is still looking to settle into a group of defenders.
"We are continuing trying to tighten up our defense," Webber said. "We want to get an early lead to take the pressure off some of the defense. There is still some growth we have to make back there. We got ourselves in some sticky situations, but that is part of the learning process."
Widish scored one goal and had one assist to propel the Raiders to a 4-1 win over Monroe Saturday at Honey Creek Park.
"It's always nice to beat Monroe," Widish said. "Every year we know it will be a tough game. We know coming in it will be super physical. Winning the rivalry game is always nice because it makes it even better."
Widish scored the first goal on a play when it looked like Monroe junior goalie Deven Schulte would make the save. Widish caught the Cheesemakers off-guard by taking a quick shot off a set play and the ball glanced off Schulte's hands before finding the back of the net at 18 minutes, 22 seconds. Sugar River senior Brock Kelly scored a goal on a penalty kick at 28:36 to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead at the half.
"We made some mistakes that kind of put us in a hole," Monroe coach Tony Vasquez said. "I thought we possessed the ball more than we have been."
Sugar River sophomore Matteo Latorre scored a goal at 48:07 to extend the Raiders' lead to 3-0.
The lone Cheesemakers' goal came on a header by senior Nick Benkert at 76:32. A throw in by Daniel Lapp allowed junior teammate Nick Schumacher to head the ball to Benkert. The goal cut the Raiders' lead to 3-1.
"It gave us hope," Benkert said. "Hope is a big thing. It felt really good scoring it, but I knew I knew I hit Aaron (Ziolkowski)."
Benkert understood the importance of the game against Sugar River, which is the top team now in the Capitol Conference.
"They are in our playoff tournament at the end of the year," he said. "It would have been nice to get a win against them because it would help us with seeding. I feel like we played a good game. A few of our mistakes led to their shots and goals. I guess they were just good finishers."
Sugar River junior Jack Gentilli scored a goal on an assist by Widish at 79:59 to give his team a three-goal lead again.
Raiders senior goalie Tyler Boeck had 14 saves, and Sugar River outshot the Cheesemakers 20-14. Schulte had 15 saves. With the win, the Raiders improve to 9-3-3 overall and 3-0 in the Capitol Conference. With the loss, the Cheesemakers drop to 4-5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Badger South.
"We always want to be a high pressure team at the end of the game," Sugar River coach Kyle Webber said. "The key is to be relentless on offense."
Vasquez likes the way Schulte remained aggressive coming out of the box to make several critical saves.
"He's been playing really well lately," Vasquez said of Schulte. "We have been trying to get him to be more mobile and help us by coming out more. He did a perfect job today. Any long balls he played it back to the opponents' side of the field."
Sugar River is still looking to settle into a group of defenders.
"We are continuing trying to tighten up our defense," Webber said. "We want to get an early lead to take the pressure off some of the defense. There is still some growth we have to make back there. We got ourselves in some sticky situations, but that is part of the learning process."
