After playing to a pair of 1-1 draws during the regular season, it was only fitting that Thursday night’s Division 2 sectional semifinal between top-seeded New Richmond and No. 2 River Falls was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation.
New Richmond vs. River Falls (22 photos)
But with a berth in Saturday’s sectional final at state, somebody had to walk away a winner. And after the two teams combined for three goals in a span of 1 minute, 32 seconds in the first overtime, it was River Falls who was left standing with a 3-2 victory.
The game was a rematch of last year’s sectional semifinal, which River Falls won in a shootout after playing to a scoreless draw through 100 minutes of regulation and overtime. The Wildcats advanced to face Onalaska, the No. 1 seed on the other side of the bracket, in this year’s sectional final Saturday at 1 p.m at Oakleaf Stadium in Altoona.
Thursday night’s match was scoreless through the first half before the Tigers received a red card just over three minutes into the second half, putting them a player down the rest of the way. The card was issued after Wildcat Kraly Walker was taken down from behind on a potential breakaway.
That didn’t stop the Tigers from scoring the first goal of the game, however. After a short corner kick, Kylie Albert sent a cross that bounced off a Wildcat defender and right to Stella Nielsen, who put it high inside the far post at the 51:55 mark of the game.
River Falls had a chance to tie it with about 10 minutes remaining when Elliott Bell tipped the ball past a charging Tiger goalkeeper Maggie Heinecke. But before Bell could catch up to the ball and redirect it into the net, New Richmond defender Ava Rumpza came streaking in to get just enough of her foot on Bell’s attempt to deflect it wide.
The Wildcats finally broke through to get the tying goal with 5:37 remaining, when Olivia Doerre pounced on a deflected shot by Lillia Gray and tucked it into the short side.
After combining for two goals in 80 minutes of regulation, the Wildcats and Tigers scored three goals in a span of 1:32 in the first ten-minute overtime session, beginning with an own goal by the Wildcats that gave the Tigers a very brief 2-1 lead. Albert was given credit for the goal for being the closest Tiger when the ball crossed the line following a miscommunication by the Wildcat defense.
The Tiger fans were still on their feet cheering when Doerre scored off a rebound of her own shot just 29 seconds later to tie the score again, 2-2.
But it didn’t remain that way for long. Just over a minute later, Doerre played the ball forward with her head and Addison Lemke sprinted between a pair of Tiger defenders to chase it down and beat Heinecke at the top of the box with a one-timer into the lower far corner for what proved to be the game winner.
New Richmond’s season came to an end with a record of 14-4-6 while River Falls improved to 12-3-7 heading into Saturday’s sectional final against Onalaska (15-0-3). The Wildcats and Hilltoppers met once during the regular season with Onalaska winning a 1-0 decision back on April 6 in River Falls.
In other girls soccer playoff action Thursday night, third-seeded Hudson lost to No. 1 D.C. Everest in a shootout after the teams played to a 5-5 tie through two overtimes in a Division 1 sectional semifinal in Schofield.
In Division 4, No. 3 seed Somerset fell to No. 1 Regis/McDonnell/Catholic Central 4-0.
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