For several years, Anoka-Ramsey Community College has been the class of the MCAC men's soccer conference. The Rams are the defending conference and regional champions. When Riverland beat them in 2019 it was the first conference game Anoka-Ramsey had lost in more than three years. So, when the Rams came to Austin on Wednesday night, the Blue Devils knew what kind of task awaited them. The game certainly did not disappoint!
Riverland came out ready to play Wednesday night and took no time at all to grab a goal and an early lead. Some nice work in the Anoka-Ramsey half led to a pinpoint cross from midfielder Daniel Vargas (Austin, MN) that found forward Lee Reh (Austin, MN) who swept the ball past the Anoka-Ramsey goalkeeper for his third goal of the season to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Just three minutes later, Riverland would strike again as pressure in the Anoka-Ramsey box forced a hand ball from the visitors. Jose Valladares (Austin, MN) put away the ensuing penalty kick for his first-ever collegiate goal, and the Blue Devils found themselves with an early 2-0 advantage.
As the half wore on, Anoka-Ramsey got their footing in the game and started to take advantage of an increasing number of Riverland errors. Their pressure finally paid off, and with just under 19 minutes left to play in the first half the Rams scored to cut the score to 2-1. Just over a minute later, Anoka-Ramsey would score again to tie the game and seize momentum. Riverland rode the goalkeeping talents of Lucas Evenson (Austin, MN), who had been named MCAC Goalkeeper of the Week earlier in the day, to take a 2-2 score to halftime.
Anoka-Ramsey had the run of play for much of the second half, as Riverland continued to make unforced errors and give the ball away too easily. But the Rams were unable to add to their tally and the game went into overtime. In overtime, it was Riverland who found their second wind, creating the best chances in the extra period despite being visibly weary. Neither team was able to break the deadlock and the teams shared the spoils of the match.
"We started out really well against a very good opponent," Riverland head men's soccer coach Frank Spaeth said. "But then after scoring those two early goals I think we got a little complacent, a little lazy. At this level, you have to be focused and put in a solid effort for the entire 90 minutes or you can get punished. That's what happened to us tonight. We definitely didn't play our best soccer…"
The tie takes Riverland's record to 1-4-1. They next travel to Duluth on Sunday for a conference match against Lake Superior College. Anoka-Ramsey moves to 1-1-1 on the season. The two teams will face off again in the Twin Cities in early-October for what should be a hotly-contested rematch.
