Proctor Boys State Bound

Wes Vork-NSO

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Oct 21

Wes Vork-NSO

DULUTH – In what can be described as putting an exclamation point on the best season in recent history, the Proctor boys soccer team captured the Section 7a crown by beating Grand Rapids 2-1 Thursday evening at Public Schools Stadium.

After a scoreless first period Chris Carlson got the Rails on the board 10:06 into the second stanza with a kick from the right side of the goal nearly at the end line. As impossible as the angle appeared, Carlson felt confident when he let the shot go. “I first looked for a forward to pass out to, and then I saw the goalie come out a bit and thought I could get it over him.” Carlson explained to Northland Sports Online. Carlson’s shot cleared the outstretched arms of the goalie and found the farside top of the net putting the Rails up 1-0. “It all worked out, as a team we have worked hard all year for this,” Carlson added.

Proctor added to the 1-0 lead at the 71:26 mark when
Carlson was taken down near the left side of the goal and Donavan DeBartolo scored on a penalty kick to put Proctor up 2-0. DeBartolo’s goal would prove important when with 1:06 left in the contest Yuma Hirano scored for the Thunderhawks cutting the lead to 2-1. Although the final minute may have seemed like an hour the Rails clamped down on defense to preserve the 2-1 score and pick up the win.

First year Head Coach Jesse Smith complimented his troops on winning the first section championship since 2003. “This was their goal (section championship); they worked so hard all year to get to this point. Now anything can happen, we play in an excellent section so I think we will be very competitive down there.” With Hermantown finishing second in state last year and Duluth Marshall winning it all in 2007 the Northern teams are starting to gain respect in the state.

Smith explained that the team was well prepared for tonight’s contest. “We had breakfast as a team this morning and started the day our right. Then we watched film on Grand Rapids and talked about what we could work on. Defending corner kicks was an area we needed to improve on so we spent some time working on them.” The corner kick defense came in handy for the Rails with Grand Rapids putting on a lot of pressure early on and getting several corner kicks early in the game.

Proctor will find out their first round opponent when the state tournament brackets are determined on Sunday. The top four teams are seeded with their opponent determined by a random draw.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com