River Falls’ co-Big Rivers Champion and Regional Champion season came to an end at the hands of Holmen on Thursday, losing 3-1 in the Sectional Semi-final in an overtime thriller.

The Wildcats lost 2-0 to Holmen early in the regular season. River Falls came out of the gates swinging with that game on their mind, with Mickey Bell streaming down the field with the ball and roping a shot into the top left of the net in just the third minute. River Falls survived the rest of the half, taking a 1-0 lead into the break with 40 minutes to play.

River Falls brought some aggression into the early second half, getting a few solid looks at the net. The clock was still draining against Holmen’s wishes, with the 1-0 Wildcat lead still holding with 20 minutes to play.

With about 15 minutes to play, Holmen took control of the offensive possession. They kept the ball in the Wildcat zone, threatened to score and passed at the right times. That possession lasted around five minutes, with a rolling pass from the left side to the center of the net for a point-blank shot to tie the game.

“You could sense a little bit of nerves in the girls in this one, so it was nice to get that early goal to kind of ease things, and then we actually did a really nice job controlling things. I actually thought we had the better of the play there, especially in the first half, and just couldn’t find that second or the third [goal] to put it out of place,” Coach Adam Koger said. “In the second half we just had a little spell where Holmen really put the pressure on, and rather than playing out of that pressure, we reverted back to clearance mode, and that didn’t allow us to flip the script.”

River Falls secured a corner kick with a minute remaining in regulation, and a header attempt was not quite on target for a game-winner, sending the great game to overtime. The first 10-minute half of overtime came and went without a goal, but in the second half, a defensive miscommunication allowed a goal with five minutes to go, and with River Falls playing aggressively to try to tie the game again, Holmen swiped the ball and scored another to seal it. The team was a special one, accomplishing many season-long goals. Koger said that stemmed from the attitude they brought to the pitch every day.

“The group of seniors that we had were fully invested in each other and in the team, and you could see that throughout the year in how they battled,” Koger said. “For me, taking the girls on this year was a lot of fun. It helped reenergize my passion for coaching with the passion that the girls had.”