FOR CITY TIMES
WISCONSIN RAPIDS — The U19 Wisconsin Rapids Kickers earned second place at the recent Target USA Cup in Blaine, MN.

The Target USA Cup is the largest youth soccer tournament in the western hemisphere, and hosts 13 countries and 17 states, and features over 1,000 teams and more than 15,000 players.

The Kickers started the tournament on Friday, July 8, by defeating EBFC of Riverside, IL, by a score of 3-1, followed by a 3-0 victory over Keliix Intra of Minneapolis, MN. On Saturday, July 9, Wisconsin Rapids was defeated 2-1 by a team from Sweden, but the Kickers came back that evening to defeat CFC Los Toros of Worthington, MN by a score of 4-0. On Sunday, July 10, Rapids advanced to the semi-finals, defeating  West Lawn Soccer Club of Chicago, IL, after a tied game which resulted in a shootout. The championship game was a tough fight. The Kickers were ahead 3-1 at halftime, but were narrowly defeated with less than a minute to go by Gitchi Gimmi of Duluth, MN, 5-4.

The team’s accomplishments for the 2022 season include: a second-place finish at the Easter International Cup in Orlando, FL in April; champions of the State of Wisconsin Presidents Cup in May; undefeated champions of the Wisconsin State Premier League, with only 8 goals allowed the entire season; a second-place finish at the Target USA Cup in July.

The 2022 rosters consists of Zilfi Aliu, Lucas Bean, Bryce Boldt, Aidan Bruns, Aiden Dunn, Ashton Fischer, Ethan Hafenbredl, Brandon Kaup, Adam Kaup, Ben Klingforth, Caleb Lemieux, Drew Lewallen, Dalton Petersen, Sean Roenius, and Ben Weidman. Guest players included Aiden Armagost and Jordan Szelagowski. Coaches for 2022 were Jon Byom and Bob Budjac, and the team was managed by Aaron Dunn.