Raczykowski leads Screaming Eagles to win

REARDAN – With wind chill temperatures in the low-30s, Upper Columbia Academy faced the Screaming Eagles Monday, Nov. 5, in the first round of the District 6 2B Girls Soccer Tournament. After playing to a nil-nil tie after 40 minutes, the Screaming Eagles scored six goals in the second half to win 6-0.

In the first half, the players played cautiously on a slick field, with dipping temperatures and wind gusts exceeding 30 mph. The game was played mostly in the middle of the field, with neither team having success advancing the ball to their opponent's goal. The lackluster half ended in a 0-0 draw.

In the second half it was Reardan senior Noelle Raczykowski who got the Screaming Eagles rolling when at the 90 second mark she fired the ball into the net to give her team a 1-0 lead.

Minutes later, fellow senior Mackenzie Bjornberg showed her dribbling skills when she received a pass on the left side of the field, crossed mid-field and kicked the ball into the corner of the net to make the score 2-0.

With 17:00 left in the game, Raczykowski gave the Screaming Eagles some breathing room with her second goal, this one from 30 yards out, making the score 3-0.

Ten minutes later, junior Kylie Alsept received a well-placed corner kick from Raczykowski and fired it past the UCA goalie to give Reardan a 4-0 edge.

With under seven minutes left in the game, Raczykowski scored two more goals, giving Reardan the 6-0 win.

"It was extremely chilly out there," Reardan senior Reagan Board said. "The weather made everything slow down. We were thinking about staying warm while also trying to get to the ball.

"The ball was skipping on the wet grass and would go way past you. In the second half we stopped waiting for the ball to come to us. We attacked the ball which helped us put it together in the second half."

Like Board, Bjornberg felt the weather played a major role in the game.

"The weather was rough which made it definitely harder to breath today," she said. "In the second half we came out with more intensity. The want to win really showed up in the second half and I'm proud of us for stepping up."

"The girls were frozen and came out sluggish because of the cold and the wind," Reardan head coach Richard Breedlove said. "In the second half we focused on their drive to finish, and they did it."

With the win, Reardan advanced in the tournament to play No. 1 ranked Freeman on Wednesday, Nov. 6. In that game, the Scotties showed why they were undefeated after playing 15 games. Freeman outplayed the Screaming Eagles from start to finish, winning 13-1. The loss ended Reardan's season with an overall record of 9-7.