There was just something about the Tomah Timberwolves that gave the River Falls soccer team issues this year.

The Timberwolves’ flawless execution of penalty kicks propelled Tomah to a WIAA Division 2 Regional Championship over the top-seeded Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 22, in River Falls. Tomah scored on all five penalty shots while River Falls connected on only three of four opportunities.

The Timberwolves proved to be a tough matchup for River Falls, as Tomah’s defense has specialized in limiting outside scoring opportunities all season. The Wildcats have relied on those outside strikers to find the back of the net, especially senior forward Zack Nye.

Through the opening 20 minutes of the first half, both teams struggled to generate scoring opportunities and it became apparent that the game was destined for gridlock. After a scoreless first half, Tomah appeared as if it were going to get on the board first in the second half.

The Timberwolves strung together a couple of passes and generated the best look of the game for one of their outside strikers who quickly fired a top-shelf shot at the net. River Falls senior goalkeeper Remy Espanet made a leaping save to keep the game scoreless in the 13th minute of the second half.

Less than two minutes later, River Falls had its first high-quality scoring opportunity. River Falls sophomore midfielder Tustin Todd deked a couple of Tomah defenders before launching a top-shelf shot at the net. Tomah junior goalkeeper Trevin Johnson made a diving save to knock the ball away and extinguish River Falls’ best scoring chance of the game.

River Falls head coach Jacob Langer spoke about the deadlock of the game throughout the first and second half of regulation.

“They do a very good job of limiting opportunities for the other team. When you’re big, athletic and can limit opportunities, you’re going to make runs in the playous,” Langer said. “I knew coming into this game that was a team that was going to be dangerous this year. Remy (Espanet) made some big saves, but our attack just wasn’t clicking and we weren’t making the runs that we needed to make.” After a scoreless two halves of regulation and the first period of overtime, River Falls and Tomah went into the second overtime and that’s when the fireworks began. Two minutes into that second overtime, the aforementioned Todd scored a top-shelf goal over the outstretched arms of Johnson to give River Falls a 1-0 lead over Tomah.

However, in the sixth minute of the second overtime, Tomah and River Falls got into a scrum just outside the Wildcats’ goal. The Timberwolves continued scrapping until Tomah junior Ty Richer got a foot on the ball and booted it past Espanet to tie the game 1-1.

“We had a crazy scrum down by the goal and things happen,” Langer said. “I think our defenders did a poor job of getting the ball out and they turned the ball over, they got in low and then a big group of like eight bodies – the ball found the back of the net. Those things happen. You can’t game plan against those kinds of goals.” Since the game was tied after two overtime periods, River Falls and Tomah went into a penalty kick shootout. Each team had five players shoot penalty kicks and the team with the most goals out of five would be named regional champions.

Both Tomah and River Falls connected on their first kicks. However, Tomah took advantage when senior Owen Anderson scored while River Falls senior Zack Nye had his shot saved by the Timberwolves’ keeper. Tomah proceeded to score the next three penalty kicks to secure the regional title in a 5-3 shootout.

“When you hit penalty kicks anything can happen,” Langer said. “That team is a bad matchup for any team. They’re not a Hudson or Memorial, they won’t pick you apart with tactics, but they are just athletes that will beat you to every ball and they will be physical. You’ve got to be up to play against them and unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win.” While River Falls’ loss is certainly an earlier-than-expected exit from the postseason – especially as the top seed – it doesn’t taint the overall success of the 2022 season. Langer spoke about how he will reflect on this season and a three-year stretch that includes regional and sectional championships and a trip to state.

“I don’t let a game that goes to penalties weigh into how the season overall went. I think we had a really good season,” Langer said. “I think we’re coming ou of probably the greatest three-year stretch, at least from a skill perspective and overall talent, the last three years have probably been the highest this program has been in the last 10 years.” River Falls reached program highs this season that included defeating both Hudson and Eau Claire Memorial in the same year, something that had never been done in program history. However, the graduation of several key seniors means the River Falls roster will look diuerent next year.

“I’ve had these seniors since a bunch of them were eighth graders. They were a special group of seniors,” Langer said. “A lot of important members of this team and not just from a skill perspective, but leadership perspective that are going out the door – Remy (Espanet), Zach Geerdes, (Caleb) Selleck, Zack Nye, even Jack Stang and Michael Putzier. And even some of the guys that don’t see a ton of time, just being positive mentors. They’re going to be missed.” While Langer is losing a valuable group of seniors that will be impossible to replace, he stated that he has a great group of juniors that are ready to start filling some of those important leadership roles throughout the ouseason and into next fall.

“I have a phenomenal group of juniors and that helps next year a lot, at least from a leadership perspective, but you can’t just replace a group that was as special as this,” Langer said. “While we’ve got a great group like this coming up, replacing a great group is hard. Only the truly great programs are able to do that and that’s our goal.”

River Falls sophomore Tustin Todd eludes traffic while on his way to the net. Todd scored River Falls’ lone goal of the game against Tomah in the Division 2 Regional Championship game on Saturday, Oct. 22. Photo by Reagan Hoverman