Okay, so now its getting serious. We are down to the Sectionals….16 Teams remain in the state D1 Playoffs and the games are going to start getting really good. And that starts right here in Eau Claire with EC Memorial vs. Hudson.

We knew this was the likely match up and we know a few things already….it was going to be a physical match up…..it was going to be well played by both teams…..likely it would be a one goal game for much of the match and probably a few yellow cards…..these teams don’t really like each other. Success breed that competitive fire. Being the top two teams in the BRC makes this a true rivalry game. The stakes are almost always high when these two teams play. So let’s review.

First, a 3:00 start. now come on, how in the heck are we supposed to plan for a 3:00 game. Season games are 5:00, and then they move them to 4:30. Round 2 games started at 4:00….but 3:00. Holy Toledo. So of course no matter how hard you try, the phone rings, a meeting goes late, you rush to the game but arrive a few minutes late….and you miss the first goal. A header off a cross from Will Hartman to Garrett Woodford. Nerves are settled, the home team has a goal, all is right with the world. But then of course, I don’t have the video to show, what the heck. But I do have access to YouTube…so in honor of Woodford, let’s show a great header goal from years past. A flying header in tribute to crazy man Woodford who has a few amazing header goals this year. In your honor Garrett….

So now I have arrived and settle in. Top Observations for the game.

Kolton Prater is good. I knew the Hudson midfielder was good. He was Conference Player of the Year and I am guessing he goes back to back. A few Memorial players may have a case, but not sure anyone in the league is better. He is better than good, he is dynamic. Fast, physical, skilled, great feet, constant movement and energy. He really controlled midfield in the first half and looked very dangerous. A few collisions near the 18 made me very nervous. In the box?, out of the box?. A few no calls, but he also got his share of calls. Fortunately on this night, the free kicks just did not turn into anything dangerous. A few into the wall and a few easy saves, whew, we dodged a bullet with Kolton.

The Trio of Rosenberger, Nunez and Peloquin are clicking right now. This three headed monster from Memorial is really playing their best soccer of the season. They are all really fast, they are all willing passers, they all seem to know where the other two are located and they all have mad skills on offense. Shooting, dribbling, passing…..they are dynamic offensive players. It could have been 4-0 or 5-0 tonight.

A clean sheet on defense. Memorials defense is experienced, fast, physical, and all are really smart soccer players. Hartman, Gyorfi, Junker and Biwer really hold down the line and limit the attacks and shots on goal. Knowlton stops everything he should. The midfield, under a ton of pressure tonight, responded. Woodworth is a beast. Xiong is box to box. Whitis has stepped up his game and is earning his spot. Throw in Jolley and you have a scrappy group that plays really hard, very physical, presses everything and limits opportunities. 2 Goals to Hudson in 3 games is impressive.

The game was chippy. There were bodies flying everywhere. It got physical and a bit testy a few times. Fans are never happy, both teams always want the call to go their way, and are never happy if it doesn’t, but I thought the ref got the calls right. You knew the teams did not like each other, you knew it would be physical.

The better team won. It will be interesting to look at the stats tomorrow. Felt like Memorial won the possession battle. I think they had a pretty good advantage in shots as well. The shots on goal for Hudson were all manageable for Knowlton. Memorial hit for 2, but there were several very close, I think 3-0, 4-0 would not have been a surprise. Memorial got better each game against Hudson, from a 1-1 tie, to a 3-1 win to a 2-0 shutout.

Let’s look at some highlights.

What appeared to be an easy floater to the GK turned into an almost goal off the post. It was a sign the second goal was getting closer. And then there was the Rosenberger show! He was strong all night. He is a real difference maker and had multiple good looks tonight. He is saving them for the Sectional Finals I think…or hope! Here is a Rosenberger highlight reel.

The trio previously mentioned hooked up for goal #2. It all starts with a very high quality pass from Rosenberger. How he sees Peloquin, I don’t know and then he drops the ball into a perfect position. A really amazing pass. Peloquin does his thing and serves a ball right into the box and Nunez does his thing and delivers the final blow to Hudson’s hopes. Boom…Game Over!

Nothing left to do but celebrate. On the the Sectional Finals!

#2 seed Appleton North took down Green Bay Preble 2-1 in OT to advance to the Sectional Final against Memorial. It shows the game time on Saturday at 1:00. It also shows the location as Appleton North. So that’s interesting. I did not think a team could host a Sectional Final….that they were played in a neutral site. I’ll keep an eye on that, very surprising they would allow this game to be played at Appleton North’s home field ….Memorial is the #1 seed, Appleton North is the #2 seed. Curious!

New Richmond and Rice Lake both advanced as well to the Sectional Finals.

#1 Memorial Rolls Over #8 North, 7-0

I guess it’s what you expect in an 8 vs. 1 match up. The underdog hopes to keep it close, steal a goal and hang on….but it was not meant to be for North. Memorial was dominant. The scoring started early….actually a bit too early for me….I thought the game started at 4:30. Whoooops, a 4:00 start and two goals in the first 20 minutes meant I missed them both. Sorry Luke….8 goals in the past few games and you are really rolling. But I did watch the rest of the game.

Memorial dominated possession, had a ton of shots, allowed maybe 1 shot on goal, and did not let North in their half except for a few dribbles here and there. It was the third match up between the two teams and I think Memorial has stepped it up a bit in each game. North just had no answers for the Memorial attack and just not enough offense to test the Memorial defenders. Possession–shot–save–clearance–steal and repeat was the flow of the game. Sprinkle in 3 goals in the first half and 4 goals in the second and you have Memorial advancing to the next round.

The real story of the game were the conditions. Not ideal for soccer. Cold, wet, and very windy. Tough on fans and anyone not playing. For Memorial, once they got to 4, it was time to rest a few players and get ready for Round 2. A few takeaways from the game.

–Rosenberger is starting to take over….and that’s a good thing. Something like 7-8 goals in the past 3 games. A hat trick at Rice Lake and just a little different attitude it feels like. That’s what you want from your Senior Captains!

–The bench is getting shorter which is normal in playoff time. Key players will get the minutes and as the team goes deeper, I think that continues.

–Goals are coming from multiple players. Tonight there were 6 different goal scorers. A balanced attack is a good thing.

–The defense looks solid. The midfield is stepping aggressively and winning balls. If an attacker loses possession, they quickly press and work to regain. It looks hard to play against. The competition will get better, but Memorial looks ready for any challenge.

Let’s take a look at some highlights.

I missed a few good goals from Rosenberger and Xiong, but did catch this corner kick goal for Mason Sherman. He has tallied a few lately and is becoming a threat on the outside to compliment the starting group.

As fate would have it, my fingers were too cold to press play on a goal from Gyorfi…sorry Matt. As well, I flubbed a goal from Peloqin….sorry Jacob. But I seemd to not mess up when I was filming Sherman. Here was another dangerous ball from the right side. Just a bit outside! GK was beat.

I suppose practice makes perfect. Sherman gets another shot at it after a nice pass beats the defense. Mason one times a drive across goal and hits the net this time. A double for Mason!

Last goal on the night and it was deserving. A little touch into space, a spurt to get to the ball….a hot shot that’s just hot enough the GK can’t handle it….maybe a little fortunate deflection, but hey, the ball settled into the net. Nice work Joey Moua, exciting to see the Freshman tally a goal in the playoffs.

Regional Finals in Sectional 1

So we are now set for the Regional Finals on Saturday. Only one upset so far in Sectional 1, with #6 seed Appleton West advancing. Other games of notes: Steven Point 1-0 winner over DC Everest. Wausau West a 5-2 win over Superior. Hudson with a 8-0 win over Chippewa Falls.

#1 Memorial vs. #4 Stevens Point

#3 Wausau West vs. #2 Hudson

#1 Bay Port vs. #4 Green Bay Preble

#2 Appleton North vs. #6 Appleton West

Coaches Poll Week 8

No change as we enter the playoffs.

1. Marquette
2. Arrowhead
3. Verona
4. Madison West
5. EC Memorial
6. Madison East
7. Oconomowac
8. Neenah
9. Homestead
10. Hudson

D2-D3-D4 Regional Updates

In D2, #4 River Falls advances with a 3-2 win over LaCrosse Central but now faces off against top seeded Onalaska.

#6 Menomonie fell to #3 Holman 8-1 and is eliminated.

#2 New Richmond dominated #7 Tomah 9-0 to advance to the next round against #2 Holman.

In D3, #1 Rice Lake plays on Thursday.

In D4, #8 McDonell/Regis won against #9 Wisc Valley Lutheran and takes on #1 seed Barron in the next round.

Things are winding down in the BRC and right now it looks like EC Memorial will be your Big Rivers Champs for 2109. In what was essentially a championship game, Memorial took down Hudson last week 3-1 to take control. Only an upset or wobble would keep them from taking the title and they have taken care of business since then with back to back 7-0 wins over North and Menomonie. With just one game left against Rice Lake, even a loss guarantees them a title…I think….as they would own the tie breaker with Hudson based on the win last week.

The Memorial v. Hudson game lived up to expectations. A physical and aggressively played encounter. Memorial struck first and then extended their lead to 2-0 at halftime. The game with Hudson is always a battle. Even with the lead, the Abe’s took 3 yellows in the first half. The second half, the physical play continued and the fate struck, Memorial got hit with a penalty in the box, PK, Hudson scores and the game is now 2-1. Game on! Nerves initiated! I predicted 2-1 and now Memorial would have to hold off a charging Hudson team. But sometimes in soccer, the referee will giveth and sometime the referee will taketh away. A few minutes later and a Hudson foul in the box and Memorial delivers and the score is 3-1. Memorial weathers the quick storm and finishes the game off 3-1. Big Rivers Is now under control and There just need a few wins to finish it off, which they got. Well done Memorial.

Big Rivers Updates

Hudson with back to back 4-1 wins over Rice Lake has locked in the 2nd spot in Big Rivers. River Falls with back to back wins over Chippewa Falls has put some pressure on Rice Lake but looks to finish 4th. Rice Lake has taken care of all their games this year but just can’t get past the top two teams in BRC. Menomonie, North and Chippewa Falls fill out the 5-6-7 spots.

Coaches Poll

Not many changes this week in the coaches poll for D1.

1. Marquette
2. Arrowhead
3. Verona
4. Madison West
5. Eau Claire Memorial
6. Madison East
7. Oconomowoc
8. Neenah
9. Homestead
10. Hudson

State Playoffs-Seeding Announced

With just a few games left this year, the seedlings have been announced and are available to view at wiaawi.org. Let’s take a look at how the Big Rivers is set up in the tournament. Here are the seedlings:

D1 Sectional 1: Memorial #1, Hudson #2, Chippewa Falls #7 and North #8. A bit confused by the Chippewa Falls and North, I would think those two would be reversed. Oh well, just an innocent bystander blogger here with an opinion. In D2 Section 1: River Falls #4, Menomonie #6 and local team New Richmond with a #2 seed. In D3 Sectional 1: Rice Lake earned a #1 seed. In D4 Sectional 1 McD/Regis looks to have secured the #8 seed this year and has a tough road to advance.

If seeds hold, then another Memorial v. Hudson showdown looms, but a few games to go before that happens and some good teams to get past. On Memorials side of the bracket is Stevens Point who earlier this year beat Hudson and has wins over Green Bay Preble and DC Everest and is a very dangerous team. As well, cross town rivals can always make the game interesting in the opening match with North. They have a quality GK who can get hot. Wausau West has some quality wins too, so Hudson will have their hands full. Bay Port and Appleton North look like solid picks to advance. When they went from 8 teams at state down to 4, it made getting to State a really big accomplishment. It is quite a challenge to advance. Take a look at Sectional 2, the top 2 teams in the coaches poll, Marquette and Arrowhead are in that Sectional and have to face off to get to State, oh my.

Upcoming Schedule

Memorial starts their playoff run next Tuesday, 4:30 at home vs. North. Get your popcorn ready….here we go!

So now we know. It has come down to Thursday. Well, I suppose something strange could happen, a few losses that we don’t expect could happen. But really, I think we have been expecting this game for a few weeks now. Thursday night in Eau Claire; Hudson @ Memorial. Not quite a winner take all, but basically. The winner will take hold of the BRC lead and in all likelihood, the BRC Title. Could Rice lake get a win or tie against Hudson, Could Rice Lake get a win or tie against Memorial, could North surprise Memorial if they are caught looking ahead, yes, yes and maybe yes……….. but if form holds then this will decide the title. A big game for sure.

Let’s take a quick look at the results the past week in Big Rivers play to see how things are developing.

Games on 9/26: Rice Lake over Chippewa Falls 7-0. Hudson defeated Nort 2-0 and River Falls took down Menomonie 9-0.

Games on 10.1: Memorial 10 -0 over Chippewa Falls, North 2-1 over Menomonie and Rice Lake and River Falls play to a 2-2 draw.

This was a big win for North. After going down early, they fought back for 2 goals, the second in the 84th minute, and earned their first BRC victory of the year. They might yet still have something to say about the BRC title is they can play big against Memorial next week. Also, I have been surprised about River Falls. Felt like they played Memorial tougher than Rice Lake, but in their first game, Rice Lake took the win. This made more sesne to me, a 2-2 game as I felt River Falls was a bit better than they showed the first game..

Games on 10.3: Memorial cruised past River Falls 4-0, Rice Lake with a hard fought 2-1 win over North. Again…North playing better. Hudson taking down Menomonie 7-0. As well, Hudson stepped out of conference this week and faced off with a strong New Richmond team. They beat them 3-0. That’s an impressive win against a team ranked #9 in D2. Hudson is playing well and full of confidence.

Memorial stepped out of conference against Wauwatosa East and Oshkosh West over the weekend. Another chance to build a resume and some confidence heading into the final part of the season. The Wauwatosa game was fun to watch. Memorial had the better of possession and chances created, but the game stayed close throughout. You felt the constant pressure would lead to a goal at some point. Early in the half on a set play, the first goal almost came, the header just wide of the mark.

And then this happened. After a long run of possession with the ball switching fields and then being played down the right side, a pass is dropped and a ball is fired into the box. Only one player is in the area, but that one player is a bit of a daredevil and also a bit fearless with his body, Garrett Woodford.. If you watch the video closely or maybe rewind and rewatch a few times….you’ll see this is quite a goal. A flying, both feet of the ground, glancing header into the corner of the net to beat a GK who is also leaving his feet and trying to stop it. So glad he didn’t.

We almost made it 2-0 just before the half on a bang bang play near the 18. It would have been nice, but the team played well in the second half, had a few more chances and finished off a well deserved 1-0 win. On Saturday they fell behind early in the half 1-0 in a game they should definitely win. They continued to play their game and were rewarded with a Mason Sherman goal to go level at the half. More steady play and chances were rewarded with a Peloquin goal late in the half to secure the win and fisnish off a strong weekend. This should have them feeling good about North and Hudson this week.

Big Rivers Standings

1. Hudson 6-0-1 19 Points
2. Memorial 6-0-1 19 Points
3. Rice Lake 6-1-1 19 Points (still 3 games against Hudson/Memorial)
4. River Falls 3-4-1 10 Points
5. North 1-6-1 4 Points
6. Menomonie 1-7-1 4 Points
7. Chippewa Falls 0-5-2 2 Points

Games on Thursday: North @ River Falls, Hudson @ Chippewa Falls, Menomonie @ Memorial.

High School Coaches Poll

Marquette continues to hold the top spot in D1 again this week. Followed by Arrowhead, Verona, Madison West and Madison East. Now you know why we go to Madison for non-conference games. Uff da. The BRC jumps into the Top 10 with EC Memorial at #6 and back in the poll after their big weekend last week is Hudson at #7. Oconomowoc, Neenah and Homestead finish off the top 10.

Rice Lake holds onto #10 in D3 and New Richmond has the #9 spot in D2.

MLS Update

Minnesota United is currently in the MLS Playoffs with the #4 spot in the Eastern Conference. Playoff soccer in Minnesota….let’s go check it out this fall! Quick Update, Seattle beat Minnesota 1-0 today…not surte if Minnesota is out but doesn’t look good.

Did I mention there was a big BRC game this week?

Hudson and Memorial took an opportunity to step out of BRC play and face a few tough non-conference opponents this weekend. The top two teams in Big Rivers went south to Madison to face perennial D2 top dog Oregon, last years State Champs at D2 and also face off with Middleton, a Top 10 team in the recent coaches poll.

Regardless of results, it is critical for these two teams to face off with some difficult opponents as they head toward the State Playoffs. The competition in BRC is good, but not the level to prepare a team for a deep run in the playoffs. River Falls and Rice Lake get the opportunity to play Memorial and Hudson twice each year and these teams represent exactly what they need to prep for the D2 and D3 state tournaments. For Memorial and Hudson, heading south to Madison or Milwaukee is the ticket. It was mixed results for the two teams, Husdon with likely their best back to back performances of the season and a real confidence boost for the rest of the season. They ended the weekend with a hard fought 1-0 win over Oregon on Friday night and an impressive 4-1 win over a top 10 team Middleton on Saturday afternoon. They will come out of the weekend buzzing and full of energy.

For Memorial, I think it was a little disappointing weekend. I know they will take a lot of positives away with the quality of their play, but it was not a weekend of results for them. Friday night they face doff against Middleton under threatening skies. An early foul against the Memorial GK led to a 1-0 lead by Middleton on the successful PK. As if to even things out, a late call against the Middleton GK, led to a Nunez converted PK and a 1-1 tie at halftime. Memorial continued to pressure Middleton and look for another goal, but the weather would not cooperate. At the 65th minute the game was called early due to weather in the area. It felt like Memorial was the better team, better possession and better chances for the winning goal. The stats support that as well. for the game, Middleton had just 6 shots on goal while Memorial had 14. That’s a bunch of chances and if I had seen that stat prior to seeing the final score, I would have predicted a 3-0 or 3-1 win. As well, you just feel like if they had played to full 90 minutes, Memorial wears them down and gets another goal or two.

Saturday’s game was much more competitive, but equally frustrating. Oregon took an early lead on a blocked shot, that was put away on the rebound. It stayed that way for awhile and then Memorial had a chance to get even, but was denied. A PK opportunity was saved and kept Oregon clear by a goal. As Memorial was pressing for a late goal to earn a draw they were left a bit exposed and Oregon scored on a late counter attack for the 2-0 final. Shots on goal was another interesting story. Oregon with 8 shots on goal but Memorial with 11 shots on goal. If you had shown me the shots on goal before the game, I would have predicted a 2-1 game or maybe Memorial wins 1-0. For this weekend, it was just not meant to be. There were plenty of shots, plenty of opportunities, but maybe just not clinical enough, and maybe some good GK play for the opponents. Just not a weekend of results. It was the first loss on the season for Memorial. You want to win them all, but there are times a loss can be productive for a coach. If you don’t play your best….. if you don’t finish your chances…..it you take a team lightly…..these are the common phrases. It just gives a chance to refocus a team. Now starts the push for playoffs. Now the resolve gets tested. Now we find out about our team. This is why you head south and play difficult non-conference games. Better to learn the lesson now than at playoff time. Hudson is flying high, but you also don’t want to peak early….Memorial played well enough to win both games, but will now have the chance to use this weekend as motivation the rest of the year. Time will tell.

The theme of the weekend was PK’s. Let take a look at 20 of the most famous PK’s of all time. Most made, some not. Many of these were in Champions League finals, or World Cup games. Enjoy!