The playoffs had it all in store for River Falls soccer. A penalty kick win, two wins over teams that beat them in the regular season and some timely heroics boosted the Wildcats to the Sectional Final where they fell short to one of the state’s best in DeForest 5-0 Saturday.

As a No. 4 seed in Division 2, a difficult road featuring wins over No. 5 Wausau East and No. 1 New Richmond got River Falls to Sectionals where they faced a Marshfield team that they had lost to in the regular season. Similar to the matchup against New Richmond, the Wildcats knew from experience that it was a winnable match if they did everything right.

After falling behind 1-0 early against No. 3 Marshfield, a centering pass from Tustin Todd was punched in right at the net by Boz Berg 15 minutes into the first half. Todd then made a free kick around the wall of Marshfield, sneaking into the right side of the net for a 2-1 lead 27 minutes in.

“Not the start we wanted, giving up a goal pretty early, but I was really proud of the boys for bouncing back,” Head Coach Adam Koger said. “We always thought that beating Marshfield was something that was in the realm of possibilities, and then we just had to put it together.”

Dominic Hietala broke loose late in the first half and chipped one over the keeper in a one-on-one. Hietala got one more chance late in the first half and made it count with a slick move to stun the keeper and secure a big lead. The second half was a defensive one and the Wildcats won 4-1 Thursday.

Koger said the energy of an early release from school and Halloween helped the team fend off the troubles of a long bus ride.

Saturday had a different result as a DeForest team that is now outscoring teams in the postseason by a total of 18-1 showed why they earned one of the No. 1 seeds.

“The boys had a blast,” Koger said. “We had a great time.”

Koger said it was good for the players to see that although they played well in the playoffs, there is another level of cohesiveness they can achieve if they work for it. The experience could prove valuable for the younger players as the playoffs brought River Falls up against some of the best competition and gave the Wildcats some nail-biting matchups.

With 11 seniors, they played a variety of roles and there were also a chunk of seniors that came out for soccer for the first time.

“They all supported each other, they rooted each other on,” Koger said. “For me, I think that’s one of the most rewarding pieces.”

A common phrase used by coaches is leaving the program better than you found it, and this senior class helped make that happen.

To keep it going, Koger mentioned work in the weight room, work in the offseason and club teams all being important to help this year be a step in the right direction rather than a final destination.

“This was really exciting, this was awesome, it was maybe unexpected, but we would like to set this as the standard,” Koger said.