Raiders wrap up regular season with pair of losses
Arcadia junior Justin Pina kicked the ball away from a Holmen defender during an MVC clash last week. (Times photograph by Zach Rastall)
The Arcadia boys soccer team saw their nine-match winning streak snapped in their final conference match of the season, followed by an additional non-league match over the weekend.
The Mississippi Valley Conference champion Holmen Vikings ended the Raiders’ winning run with a 2-0 shutout victory in a meeting between the two best teams in the MVC this fall last Tuesday in Holmen.
The Vikings took a 1-0 lead going into the halftime break on Ethan Johnson’s header assisted by Andrew Lowman in the 35th minute. Early in the second half, Brock Needham took a pass from Triston Gomez and booted it into the back of the net to extend the advantage to 2-0.
Each team had six shots on goal on the evening, though Arcadia was never able to get one past Holmen goalkeeper Jack Baranowski.
This past Saturday, Prairie du Chien/Seneca/Wauzeka-Steuben/Youth Initiative notched a 2-1 non-conference victory over the Raiders in Prairie du Chien in the final tune-up before the start of postseason play.
Arcadia is a top seed in their Division 4 section for the upcoming playoffs and earned a first-round bye. They will host either No. 8 seed Coulee Christian/Providence Academy or No. 9 seed Adams-Friendship in Thursday’s regional semifinals, with the winner squaring off against either No. 4 seed Aquinas or No. 5 seed Tri-County in Saturday’s regional finals.
