Raiders advance to Substate final after victory over Keokuk

WILLIAMSBURG — The 6th ranked Raider boys’ soccer team chose a good time to score their season high in goals in a 10-1 substate semifinal victory over Keokuk Monday night.

“I thought the guys did a good job of coming out and having good pressure but also continuing to build off things we have talked about the last few weeks,” Raider head coach Ryan Sauser said.

The Raiders were on the offensive for much of the game and fittingly got it started with two goals within the first fifteen minutes of the match by two of their leading scorers on the season, John Eichorn and Max Wodianka.

Wodianka, a foreign exchange student, has been a key addition to the Raiders success this season. Coming into the matchup, he led the team with 17 goals.

“He’s been big for our team. We’ve had a lot of injuries throughout the year, and he’s done a good job of stepping up in his role,” Sauser said.

“Braysen (Doehrmann) and John (Eichorn) have also helped to keep us well-rounded.”

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On the contrary, Keokuk had very few opportunities for shots on goal throughout the entire match. Keokuk’s lone goal came off a penalty kick, which was initially saved by goalkeeper Logan Rethwisch, but Keokuk scored off the ricochet.

“That’s where it starts (defense). I’ll always take a 1-0 game over a high scoring game,” Sauser said.

The Raider’s defense will be facing a steeper challenge Wednesday against Davenport Assumption. Assumption defeated West Burlington Notre Dame, 2-0, on the other side of the Class 2A Substate 5 bracket Monday night.

“Last year we had a tough pool, we had to play Gilbert to advance to state who ended up winning it all,” Sauser said. “The guys really wanted to put ourselves in a position to own our pool.”

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The Raiders will have that opportunity Wednesday night as they host Davenport Assumption for a trip to the state tournament next week.

Match will start at 7 p.m.