Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Reardan celebrates its state playoff berth Saturday, Nov. 6.
REARDAN-A magical run will continue for the Reardan girls soccer team. The team advanced to the state B quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over Onalaska in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday, Nov. 10 after clinching a spot in the playoffs with a road win over Brewster Saturday, Nov. 6.
Reardan arrived in Brewster after falling in the NE2B championship to St. George's 3-0 Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Both teams had several opportunities to score in the opening minutes. Reardan freshman Noelle Raczykowski and senior Ayden Krupke both had shots narrowly miss the net, while St. George's had one shot hit off the top of the goalpost and another get saved by Reardan sophomore goalkeeper Jaylee Abrahamson.
Then, 31 minutes into the game, Reardan took the lead when a Krupke shot deflected right to Raczykowski, whose shot gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Brewster answered back 30 seconds later and tied the match on a goal by Ami Mora.
The score was 1-1 at halftime.
Ten minutes into the second half, Raczykowski struck again off a Krupke assist to give Reardan a 2-1 lead.
"The thing about both goals was they were done with short passes," Reardan head coach Brian Scott said. "Anytime we score, we want to do it purposefully...so I felt it was build-up play that contributed to both goals."
Reardan never relinquished its lead and controlled the ball in the final minutes to secure its victory.
"We didn't want to play defense on our half the whole time, but we like to stretch the team wide because of the way we were playing," Reardan head coach Brian Scott said. "I thought we played pretty well overall. We had the majority of good chances in that game, and we were able to finish."
The team celebrated its arrival in the 2B playoffs after coming into the postseason ranked fourth of five NE2B teams. Reardan became the second District 7 team to qualify for state after St. George's beat Liberty Bell 3-0 in its crossover Saturday.
The magic didn't end in Brewster for Reardan. The girls learned they would be seeded No. 11 in the state playoffs and would have to travel to Centralia for a date with the No. 6 Onalaska Loggers Wednesday, Nov. 10.
That match didn't start particularly well for Reardan, as Onalaska took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute on a breakaway goal by Brooklyn Sandridge after missed shots by Raczykowski and Krupke. Two Abrahamson saves in the first 10 minutes kept Reardan within reach.
Reardan broke through when Raczykowski was fouled in the box in the 19th minute. Freshman Elise Cox drove the penalty kick into the net to tie the match 1-1, which remained the score at halftime.
Abrahamson had seven saves in the first half.
Reardan then took the lead in the 31st lead on a deep arching shot from Raczykowski, who has scored five of Reardan's six postseason goals.
It was a lead Reardan wouldn't surrender, and the school had won its first ever playoff game.
Reardan advanced to take on No. 3 Highland in the state quarterfinals. The match will be played at noon Saturday, Nov. 13, with the winner moving on to the state semifinals Nov. 19.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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