State Soccer Champions Crowned

George Bailey – NSO

The 2015 Boys and Girls Soccer Champions were crowned Thursday at St. Cloud State University as another fall sport comes to an end.

BOYS

Orono 2    Breck 1    O/T

Orono made its first trip to the championship game a successful one with a 2-1 overtime victory over Breck in the Class A title game of the boys ‘soccer state tournament Thursday at Husky Stadium on the St. Cloud State University campus.

Senior forward Alex Kill gave the Spartans their first soccer championship in seven state tournament trips with a header goal four minutes into the extra session. Off a corner kick from teammate Spencer Overturf, Kill rose from a mass of players to head the ball past Breck goalkeeper Hudson Haecker.

His goal ended a long stalemate of goals in a game that featured a great deal of offensive creativity, but none that counted as goals.
Eric Smits opened the scoring for Breck in the 18th minute. His shot from in front deflected pass Orono goalkeeper Mark Cahow.

Breck, however, didn’t have much time to celebrate.

Less than 10 seconds later, Orono came right back on a tying goal by Guyvens Mohs off an assist by Kill.

Breck was trying to win a championship for the first time since 2005 when it won its only other small-school title.

Anoka 2    East Ridge 1

Short-handed Anoka became just the first repeat champion in Class AA boys soccer in the past five years following a 2-1 victory over East Ridge in the big-school championship game Thursday night at Husky Stadium on the St. Cloud State University campus.

Donnie Guimont and Blake Doyea scored goals five minutes apart in the second half to send the Tornadoes to their third Class AA championship since 2007. The Tornadoes are the first team to win consecutive championships since Apple Valley in 2009 and ’10.

Anoka, the No. 4 seed, trailed by a goal at the half, but had quite a surge in the early minutes of the second half.

The Tornadoes tied the score at 1-all when Guimont converted a penalty kick opportunity. He was awarded the penalty kick after being taken down in the penalty area. Less than a minute later, Guimont was given a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct and was disqualified.

But No. 2 East Ridge couldn’t take advantage of what amounted to a 37-minute power play for the rest of regulation time. Instead, Anoka took the lead in the 47th minute on a header by Doyea.

East Ridge controlled the play for the remainder of the second half, but couldn’t score the equalizer. The Raptors outshot the Tornadoes 16-8.

Nathan Casas gave East Ridge a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute on an unassisted goal.

Girls

Benilde St. Margret 4    Orono  2
Benilde-St. Margaret’s returned to the winner’s circle after a one-year hiatus.

To get there, the top-seeded Red Knights used a three-goal flurry in a four-minute surge to record a 4-2 victory over No. 2 Orono in the championship game of the Class A girls soccer tournament Thursday at Husky Stadium on the St. Cloud State University campus.

Senior midfielder Aleksa Tataryn scored two goals and assisted on another to send the Red Knights to their third small-school championship in six title-game appearances.

It was the second victory over the Spartans this season. In early September, Benilde-St. Margaret’s recorded a 1-0 victory over the defending Class A champs, a win that weighed heavily when the seeds for the state tournament were determined.

Carly Goehring scored both goals for Orono.

Eagan   1   Eden Prairie   0

The rematch went the same way in the Class AA girls soccer championship game between Eagan and Eden Prairie.

Eagan, the No. 3 seed, won the big-school championship for the second consecutive season with a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Eden Prairie on Thursday at Husky Stadium on the St. Cloud State University campus. But unlike in 2014 when Eagan also recorded a 1-0 victory over Eden Prairie for the title, the Wildcats had to go to greater lengths this time.

After 100 minutes of scoreless regulation and sudden-death overtime, a shootout was needed to crown a champion. Eagan won that game-deciding procedure 3-2.

Eagan freshman goalkeeper Megan Plaschko made two saves during the shootout, including a sprawling stop on Eden Prairie’s Maddie Milbrath, who needed to score to keep the Eagles alive in the shootout.

Eagan’s Syndey Sherek scored what proved to be the deciding goal in the shootout during the fourth round of shooters. Jade King and Anni Christenson also scored for Eagan during the shootout.

Meghan Verkinderen and Kara Bean scored for Eden Prairie during the shootout.
Eagan controlled play throughout, outshooting the Eagles 23-4, including 11-1 in the first half.

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