MILWAUKEE — The Kiel Raiders girls soccer team ended its fourth-straight trip to the WIAA state tournament with a loss in the Division 3 semifinals on June 20 at Uihlein Soccer Park.
No. 3 seeded Kiel fell to No. 2 Edgewood Crusaders 2-0 in double overtime.
It was the third time in four trips losing in the semifinals, although the Raiders won the Division 4 championship in 2023.
Kiel would be in Division 4 by enrollment but were placed in Division 3 due to the WIAA’s performance factor from the recent run of success.
After the game was scoreless after 80 minutes, Edgewood’s Sonoma Bever scored unassisted off a corner kick in the 85th minute. The NCAA Division 1 Wake Forest commit was able to curl the ball over the head of the Raiders goalkeeper Mya Langenfeld.
Bever doubled her scoring in the 98th minute when she dribbled around the Kiel defense from the corner and had a point-blank opportunity which she converted.
Langenfeld, a freshman, was busy all afternoon with the Crusaders outshooting Kiel 19-6 over and 13-3 in terms of shots on goal. Despite her youth Langenfeld made several excellent to spectacular saves to keep the Raiders in the match.
With four seniors graduating, Kiel will return a large chunk of the core which kept the Raiders state streak going including Langenfeld and top scorer, junior Taavi Saeger, who had 48 goals on the year even if she wasn’t able to add to her tally at state.
Saeger was top five in the state heading into the state tournament in both goals and points so she will be a big piece to return next season.
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: WIAA girls soccer: Kiel’s 4th-straight state appearance ends in semifinal loss to Edgewood
Reporting by Tom Dombeck, Sheboygan Press / Sheboygan Press
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