River Falls players rejoiced at midfield after they came in as underdogs and won a thriller over No. 1 seed New Richmond to be crowned Regional Champions.
A hat trick from Tustin Todd and a …
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River Falls players rejoiced at midfield after they came in as underdogs and won a thriller over No. 1 seed New Richmond to be crowned Regional Champions.
A hat trick from Tustin Todd and a shutout from the Wildcats boosted them to a 5-0 win over Wausau East on Oct. 22 in the regional semifinal. The Wildcats then matched up with a New Richmond team that shut them out twice Saturday with a Sectional appearance on the line, and while they were blanked again after a pair of overtimes, they brought it home on penalty kicks 4-3.
It was the playoff opener for River Falls, but the nerves that may have been there disappeared quickly when Boz Berg got a one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the fourth minute and slotted it on the top shelf.
Getting the early goal in the playoff opener was big for River Falls, as it helped put some of the playoff nerves to rest.
“One-hundred percent, it kind of sets everybody at ease a little bit,” Head Coach Adam Koger said. “The only thing you’re worried about is that we relax and think that they’re going to come that easy.”
River Falls had the majority of the strong looks, and would put another one in nearing the end of the first half. Todd had a pair of defenders nearby, with a slick move sending them both to his right and a quick shot sneaking by. This was the first of three from Todd, who scored a pair in the second half.
“Wausau East did some things that scared us in the first half,” Koger said. “We were able to counter attack them in the first half and the second half we slowed it down a little bit and focused on playing side-to-side.”
The win was capped with a late goal from junior Landon Wilkins on a crossing pass that went by everyone else.
There is a lot that goes into a shutout, between defense, controlling the game and strong goalkeeping, and River Falls had them all against Wausau East. Koger said the back line defense has the right combination of skills to keep the pressure off senior goalkeeper Henry Ruhland.
“We’re blessed to have Jonas [Longsdorf] back there, a senior leader, not afraid of any physical contact at all,” Koger said. “That kind of rubs off with our back line. He does a good job, and then Will [Pacheco] being the speedster, Charlie [Friemann] our super intelligent hockey guy that switched over and has been awesome as far as fitting in and then Gradyn French, the freshman who’s learning with every step.”
The defense has been rock solid in both postseason matches, as the Wildcats have not allowed a goal outside of penalty kicks.
Ruhland said his side of the field was working as one connected unit which made his job easy.
“I didn’t have much to do, so that’s always a good thing,” Ruhland said. “Defense knew what they were doing, midfield knew what they were doing. It was all connected.”
On the other end, Todd consistently had his way near the net.
“He’s so technically gifted. He can receive a pass out of the air, he can receive a pass on the ground,” Koger said. “His vision allows him to see angles and then he uses the defender’s momentum against them.”
When asked what Todd brings to the table for the team, Ruhland kept it simple.
“Goals, assists, chances,” Ruhland said.
Koger said practicing against Todd can be difficult, but it makes the River Falls defense better in the long run.
Ruhland said there is a mindset that has helped River Falls this season, and to keep their run going, they need to keep following it.
“It starts with the effort, ends with the passion,” Ruhland said. “We gotta play for each other, not for ourselves.”
River Falls had lost 3-0 and 2-0 against New Richmond this season, and Koger said they put an added focus on the defensive side of the ball. They moved Todd to the back line and aimed for counterattack defense.
“The boys did a great job defensively kind of keeping them in check as much as we could,” Koger said. “Limiting to, I don’t know, probably four or five solid opportunities, which we were kind of expecting, they’re a high-quality side.”
Koger said River Falls also had their chances, and neither side could puncture the defense.
“The big thing for us was we haven’t been able to beat them,” Koger said. “We don’t have the pressure, the pressure is on them. So we can just go and play.”
Go out and play they did, blanking New Richmond for all of regulation and both overtimes. It all came down to penalty kicks, and at 3-3, Longsdorf stepped up and fired one to the left side of the net, sending the River Falls players into a frenzy.
River Falls used that mentality to play freer and with no regrets.
The road does not get easier for River Falls, as they play a Marshfield team that beat them 4-2 in September. Koger said Marshfield has made playstyle changes since the teams squared off.
“As the lower seed, I’ll continue to pump that the pressure’s on them,” Koger said. “We can just go in and do what we can. There’s no expectation so that shouldn’t be an anchor weighing on us.”
Koger has preached that each win at this point in the season is a memory, and it is the type of story players will tell at their class reunion.