Cloquet Girls Top Denfeld 3-1 In The Snow

Contributed Photo

Oct 10

Wes Vork-NSO

On a cold, snow covered field, the Cloquet girls soccer team rebounded quite well from Thursday’s heartbreaking loss to Esko/Carlton to beat Denfeld 3-1. With the win, the Lumberjacks win the Lake Superior Conference.

The Jacks got on the board first with a goal from Haley Bassett. Denfeld responded quickly with a goal of their own from Katie Collard, tying the game at one apiece, which is where the score would remain going into the half.

Cloquet came out strong in the second half and the hard work paid off when Jessie Ryan scored to give the Lumberjacks a 2-1 lead. Ryan would score an insurance goal when, with left than five minutes left in the game, Cloquet was awarded a penalty kick, giving the Lumberjacks a 3-1 win.

Cloquet got three saves from Kaitrin Rathe, while Duluth Denfeld goalkeeper Sarah Fleissner turned in ten saves in the losing effort.

After the 3-2 loss to Esko-Carlton, a game where the Jacks were leading 2-0 in the second half, Cloquet head coach Dustin Randall was happy to get the win. Randall commented to NSO, “I thought this was a good rebound for our team after letting one slip away last Thursday.

Cloquet also won the Lake Superior Conference title outright, after sharing it with the Hermantown Hawks last season. Randall noted, “This gives us the Lake Superior Conference which is a nice pat on the back for the girls especially after having to split it last year with Hermantown.”

Further good news for Cloquet is they were awarded the #1 seed in the upcoming Section 7A playoffs, which start on Thursday. After working hard to improve over the season, Randall believes his club is ready to make a run. “We have re-focused, and are keeping our eye on the prize, winning the section.”

Cloquet finishes the regular season on Tuesday against Duluth Marshall before starting playoff action on Thursday against #16 seed North Lakes Academy. Denfeld, after a much improved season, received the #3 seed and will host #14 seed Duluth Central in first round playoff action.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com