CEC Beats Eveleth-Gilbert Advances in Playoffs

Wes Vork-NSO

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Oct 15

Wes Vork-NSO

Thursday marked the start of Section 7A boys soccer playoff action with the CEC Lumberjacks getting a 3-0 win over visiting Eveleth-Gilbert. The Jacks netted all three of their goals in the first half and then cruised to the 3-0 victory over the #12 seeded Golden Bears.

Jake Stainbrook got the Jacks on the board in the 10th minute by drilling home a header off of a corner kick from Dan Toivonen. Once again CEC’s corner kicks were effective when, in the 22nd minute, Landon Straub scored off Josiah Barrett’s corner. CEC wrapped up its first half and game scoring in the 34th minute with a goal from Tyler Gabel, which was assisted by Jake Stainbrook.

Derek Schrecengost finished with one first half save for CEC, while Alex Smolich stopped a total of 15 shots for Eveleth-Gilbert.

After the game, CEC head coach Archie Clark was pleased with the progress his young squad has made throughout the season, telling NSO, “We ended up a bit above .500, which is about where I thought we would be. We’ve had some ups and downs,but that will happen when you have a young team, technically, we are very sound and will get better as they gain experience.”

With the win, the Lumberjacks will travel to #4 seed Chisago Lakes on Saturday. Coach Clark believes his team matches up well against the wildcats. Clark commented, “Their (Chisago Lakes) home field is turf. We do have some speed and a very good defense. It’s a 4 vs. 5 seed, so we’ll go down there and see what happens.”

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com