Cloquet Girls Socccer Starts The Season 1-1

Aug 29

Wes Vork-NSO

The Cloquet girls soccer season started their first two games on the road, not allowing first year coach Dustin Randall the comforts that come with home field advantage. Still, the Jacks came away with a split and a 1-1 record to start the season.

Friday saw the Lumberjacks travel to St. Francis to take on a familiar foe, the team that they usually start their season against. There was no scoring in the first half. In the second half, Lena Swander scored a goal with the assist going to Haley Bassett. It was not enough, however, as St Francis scored twice in the second half for the 2-1 win. Kaitrin Rathe notched four saves for the game.

On Saturday, it was back down to the cities to match up against Forest Lake. This time, the trip back was made a bit shorter because the Lady Jacks notched a 2-0 win, giving Coach Randall his first varsity win.

Courtney Esse started out the scoring with a goal coming less than ten minutes into the game. Just a short time later, Haley Bassett scored on a free kick to give the Jacks a 2-0 lead. That margin would hold for the remainder of the game. Cloquet goalkeeper Rathe finished with six saves.

Cloquet will host rival Esko-Carlton in its home opener. The game, scheduled for 4:30pm Tuesday, is a rematch of last year’s semi-final game played at Public Schools Stadium, which the Lumberjacks won the match in a shootout. Home field has proved little advantage for either squad, aside from last season’s playoffs. The last six matches between E-C and Cloquet have ended in overtime ties.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com