The River Falls Wildcats girls’ soccer team lost 1-0 against Onalaska in their home opener on Saturday.

River Falls had their chances in Saturday’s game, namely with the ball loose in front of an unguarded net near the end of a 0-0 first half of play, but they ultimately came up short for the first time this season, falling to 2-1. Even so, they still reside in a first-place tie with Hudson in the Big Rivers with two victories a piece.

This also marks the first goal freshman Neva Espanet has allowed this season. Originally, the Wildcats veteran goaltender was set to play for them, but she will miss the entire year with an ACL tear, setting up Espanet for a featured role on the varsity squad in her freshman year, a challenge that she has met almost without flaw in the early goings.

Another new face within the program is Adam Koger who rejoins the program after a few years away. He also took over as head coach of the boys’ team last fall.

While some things are different, others stay the same as Charles Conley returns this year for his 14^th season as head coach. During this timeframe, the Wildcats have been wildly successful, boasting an overall win loss record of 175-56-29 to go along with three conference titles, most recently in 2022.

“I think there has only been one season since 2010 that we haven't finished in the Top 3. I wasn't the coach for the first one, however we have four conference titles in the last 14 seasons,” Conley said. 

That said, Coach Conley says they are going to have to play really well game in and game out to get a fifth BRC Championship.

“I think there are easily six teams that can qualify for the Top 4, we cannot afford to take a day off,” Conley said. “I strongly believe we have the talent to win the BRC, but we have to get our offense in sync and get healthy.”

The Wildcats played Onalaska on Saturday without first team All-BRC Forward Kraly Walker who makes a big impact in their gameplay; Conley says they might have the best back line in the conference next to Hudson.

River Falls lost three seniors in the offseason but only one starter.

“We like the experience we bring back and think we can outperform last year's team, or at least that's our hope. Almost every starter returned, and we will get Campbell Skow back from a broken arm. She missed the second half of last season,” Conley said. “This is the best team we have had since 2022, good mix of youth and experience to lead the way.” 

After being off all winter, and with only three training sessions on the field, Conley says they have been rusty in their attack.

“It is a process to hit our stride by mid-season or so and then really make a strong run. I like how we played the first two games; good to get some competition prior to the really tough opponents, but then it also can allow for a false sense of security to set in,” Conley said. “We were a little sloppy in a few areas on Saturday and will have the opportunity to improve this prior to Thursday. I think we really controlled play a lot against Onalaska, but for the second year in a row, they hit a pretty fluky goal. We held them to only a few shots, so it was a really outstanding defensive effort and gives us a lot to build on moving forward.” 

Coach Conley says the goal is the same as usual this season, to compete for a Big Rivers Conference title and be there at the end to compete for a trip to state.

“We have earned nine straight Regional Championships and 13 out of the past 14 seasons, and we have been to 10 of the last 13 section final games,” Conley said. “We are really determined to get over the hump this year and get back to Milwaukee for the first time since 2018. One game at a time. We have some things to accomplish prior to Thursday, and after that we will go from there.”

The journey towards those team goals continues this week when they host Eau Claire Memorial on Thursday at 7 p.m. and continues on Saturday when they travel to De Pere for the Green Knight Invite, which begins at 8 a.m.