You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but the young Cats out of River Falls have brought out an old trick, winning Regionals for a second straight year. After a pair of 2-0 comebacks, River Falls is nothing but thrilled with the insane, nail-biting wins.

It all started Oct. 21 when the No. 6 seed Wildcats went to Altoona to take on No. 3 Altoona/Fall Creek. The weather was frigid and the wind was off the charts. Altoona/Fall Creek went up 2-0 at half, with all signs pointing to a win.

One factor not taken into account, though, was that River Falls had been there before. A year ago, the River Falls boys had their backs against the wall countless times on the way to a Regional Title. They knew how to handle that pressure.

With a leader like senior Dom Hietala, River Falls is never out of the game.

“Dom does such a great job keeping everybody upbeat,” Head Coach Adam Koger said. “We started to level out, we were kind of on our heels early on. That gave me a little bit of confidence going into the second half.”

Koger said the entire senior class is stuffed full of great leadership.

Senior Wyatt Nelson came out of the break mixing up a couple of defenders and taking a rip from deep. The ball ricocheted off the post and back off the goalkeeper before trickling in.

“Apparently the wind was a bigger factor than we anticipated,” Koger said. “They were feeling pretty dejected. You could see as they walked off at halftime, but Wyatt coming out and letting one loose early in the second half just turned everything around.”

Minutes later, a beautiful through ball by senior Andreus Schoettle and a shot off the pipe led to a perfect opportunity for Nelson to go top bins.

“It just showed true character,” senior goalkeeper Ryder Kuchera said. “It shows how proud I am of each and every one of these guys.”

The final 30 minutes were a stalemate. Extra time came around, another stalemate. The second frame of extra time, no different. Then came the always exciting penalty kicks.

“We saw the shootout against New Richmond last year [in the playoffs], so they were confident… maybe more so than I was,” Koger said.

All four Wildcats who had their opportunities sunk them. Kuchera made a game-winning save in net to go along with a made penalty shot for the win. Kuchera also had an excellent save late in the first half to limit the damage.

“It means everything. Ever since I was a little boy, just dreaming of playing on this team on varsity and it came down to this moment. It wasn’t one that I could lose,” Kuchera said. “I just left it all on the field tonight and ready to get back to work tomorrow.”

The message of River Falls’ playoff run became clear.

“Make a memory tonight, because from high school sports, I still have those memories,” Koger said. “Tonight, they made that memory that will stick with them forever. I’m proud of them for digging deep and finding what it took to do that.”

A prime example of those memories is Uli Savilla, a foreign exchange student who has joined River Falls for the roller coaster season. Koger said he has been excited to be a part of River Falls soccer, and he got emotional after the big wins.

River Falls then traveled to take on No. 2 Wausau East over the weekend. Once again, River Falls trailed 2-0 at the half. A multi-goal comeback is not easy in soccer, and River Falls needed it twice in a row.

Fellow coach Charles Conley got to work with some aggressive adjustments, and moving Nelson to the midfield to assist out the defense was a huge help. Nelson got to work again 12 minutes into the second half, lacing a shot right down the middle which deflected off a defender trying to protect his keeper and went straight in. Two minutes later, Nelson got the ball again in the same exact spot, taking on a defender and placing one perfectly in the top right corner of the net to tie it at two.

“What makes him special is his ability to do everything,” Koger said. “We see the offensive stats that he puts up, but what people don’t always see is his effort defensively.”

Nash Freese put the moves on to get into the box in extra time, drawing a foul which set up Nelson with a penalty kick for the lead. Nelson made it a hat trick, bringing River Falls a 3-2 win. Kuchera again made some vital saves including one in an extra time one-on-one scenario.

“Character isn’t built when things are easy, and things were not easy for us,” Koger said after the win over Altoona/Fall Creek. “They all grew as people tonight, and that’s really what matters from high school sports.”

The start of the year was all but a storybook for River Falls. They lost nine consecutive matches, including a 4-0 loss to Wausau East and a 3-1 loss to Altoona/Fall Creek. Missing some key contributors due to injury, River Falls did not want that to be the story of their year.

“We’ve placed a high emphasis on just being together. The nine-game losing streak to start the season had a lot of us frustrated. I mean I was having a tough time sleeping,” Koger said. “That built us into who we are.”

You only get four years in high school sports, and River Falls has made it a mission to make every one count.

Next up is a date Thursday at No. 1 New Richmond. The teams have a history, facing off in the playoffs a year ago when River Falls got a win during a penalty shootout thriller. Koger said they are well-coached, talented and probably the team’s biggest rival given the wild matches of the past.