Wayward second half sinks Raiders in sectional final
Arcadia’s Kanye Vazquez chased after the ball during the Raiders’ sectional semifinal win over Marshfield Columbus Catholic on Thursday. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
Arcadia’s Martin Aguilar and Elijah Wolf of Marshfield Columbus Catholic fought for control of the ball during Thursday’s sectional semifinal match in Arcadia. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
Leading 1-0 at the halftime break in their sectional final clash with Northland Pines, the Arcadia boys soccer team found themselves a mere 40 minutes away from earning a second consecutive state tournament berth. Those dreams were dashed in the second half, as a flurry of surrendered goals denied them a trip to Milwaukee.
The Eagles (20-0-1) tallied three unanswered goals in the second half to flip the script and defeat the Raiders (16-5-3) 3-1 in a battle of No. 1 seeds in their Division 4 sectional final held last Saturday at Newman Catholic High School in Wausau.
It was a rainy Halloween clash between the two teams vying for a state ticket, with Arcadia drawing first blood with their goal in the first half.
Northland Pines senior Tyler Vojta blasted a shot from range in the second half that found the back of the net and tied the game up. Sophomore Simon Adamovich gave the Eagles the 2-1 lead with a kick that deflected off an Arcadia defender and into the goal. Senior Jackson Olejniczak scored the dagger goal on a header off a corner kick to propel Northland Pines onto Milwaukee.
This marks the Eagles’ ninth state tournament appearance and first since 2019.
Two days prior to that season-ending loss, Arcadia put on a clinch with a dominant sectional semifinal showing, blanking No. 3 seed Columbus Catholic (17-4-3) 5-0 at Cashen Field.
Jorge Guardado got the scoring started with a pair of early goals assisted by Ony Zaragoza and Martin Aguilar, respectively. Zayden Sanchez Helgeson extended that lead to 3-0 with a goal off a rebound.
Kanye Vazquez scored an unassisted goal, and Erick Aguilar put the finishing touches on a lopsided shutout victory with his goal assisted by Haziel Cossio.
Last Thursday’s result was a marked improvement for the Raiders compared to regular season meeting between the two teams. Arcadia had previously beaten the Dons 1-0 during an Aug. 27 matchup in Marshfield.
