It took a long time for the Holmen High School girls soccer team to respond to an early goal by River Falls in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal game on Thursday.
Coach Nick Schellenger could see that his Vikings were rattled after the second-seeded Wildcats scored just a couple of minutes into their matchup in Galesville.
“You could kind of see it in their faces and in the way they played,” Schellenger said of his players. “They were worried.”
A shot off the crossbar by Paige Olson in the 67th minute, he said, sparked something.
Two minutes later, junior Lydia Sader score her team-record 15th goal of the season to tie the game. Soon after, Ava Rivera and Jocelyn Williams were scoring in overtime to give the top-seeded Vikings a 3-1 victory and first chance in program history to play for a sectional championship.
Holmen (17-3-1) — ranked sixth in Division 2 by state coaches — gets that chance Saturday when it plays seventh-ranked Sauk Prairie (12-2-5) in a 3 p.m. kickoff at Logan’s Swanson Field.
The Vikings have never played in a state tournament and will have to beat a program that has qualified for five of them to get there.
Aquinas (14-3-1), which hasn’t qualified for a state tournament since 2017, is also one win away and plays Washburn (14-2-2) at Eau Claire North in a Division 4 final on Saturday afternoon.
A key substitution late in Thursday’s game, Schellenger said, was sophomore Saige Ratajski, who assisted on Rivera’s go-ahead goal 15 minutes into the 20-minute overtime.
“The girls were tired, and it was the adrenaline that was going to get them through it,” Schellenger said. “We made the sub with Saige, and she didn’t play many minutes earier in the game.
“She is one of the most clean and technical players we have, and she can put the ball on a dime. She also had fresh legs and delivered a perfect ball to Ava.”
Schellenger said his team was bullied off the ball for most of the game by the more physical Wildcats, who were much more proactive than reactive. It was a team that played a different kind of game Thursday than it did when Holmen beat it 2-0 in the second game of the season.
“They were very physical, they were very technical and very good,” Schellenger said of the Wildcats. “They were really well organized, and when you watch the game, you can see they have a very high soccer IQ.”
The Vikings have shown the same traits this season and have won their past 11 games with nine of them being shutouts.
River Falls found a ways to penetrate Holmen’s backline on Thursday, but junior goalkeeper Moira Linse stopped 17 of the 18 shots directed her way.
Like River Falls, Sauk Prairie is a familiar opponent.
The Vikings and Eagles began the season with a 0-0 tie, and the performance showed that Holmen was ready to compete with established programs.
Schellenger said he expects to face a Sauk Prairie team that excels defensively. The Eagles have not allowed a goal since a 1-0 loss to DeForest on May 8 and are 7-0-2 with two scoreless ties since.
“They play a very defensive counterattacking game,” Schellenger said of the Eagles, who beat Central 3-0 with three first-half goals on Thursday. “They are a team that has been to state and knows what it takes to get there.
“They will be very prepared and planned for this game.”
Sauk Prairie began its regional with a 6-0 win over Sparta and won the regional title with a 3-0 victory over Tomah.
DIVISION 4
Aquinas (14-3-1) vs. Washburn (14-2-2) at Eau Claire North, 1 p.m. Saturday
The Blugolds, who are ranked eighth in Division 4, battle the unranked Caste Guards for one of the four state spots in their division.
Aquinas had two late-season MVC losses to Onalaska and Holmen, but it has a defense that has shut out nine opponents.
Washburn was a state qualifier a year ago and lost a 7-6 shootout after playing to a 1-1 draw with eventual state runner-up Ozaukee/Random Lake. The Castle Guards own a 30-3-4 record over the past two seasons.
Senior Gloria Voss, junior Neve O’Laughlin and sophomore Gemma Sandor all scored during the shootout loss, and sophomore Lehney Paulson helped Washburn qualify for state as a freshman goalkeeper.
The Castle Guards have outscored opponents 66-12 this season and produced a 6-2-2 record in games against Division 3 and Division 1 opponents.
The Blugolds played 13 games against Division 1, 2 and 3 opponents and had an 11-3-0 record in those contests. Two of those losses came to state-ranked Holmen and the other to Onalaska.
Senior goalkeeper Madelynn Grossbach fought off Lodi in a shootout win on Thursday, and senior forward Alexa Myre has been a consistent offensive threat all season.
Seniors Hayden Zehren and Eleanor Paulson and sophomore Hannah Miller have been other impact players for Aquinas.
