John’s Journal: 700-Plus Games And A Quest For Another State Title

Tony Peszneker has seen a lot of soccer as a player and a coach. When his Wayzata Trojans meet Edina on Friday morning for the Class 3A girls state championship at U.S. Bank Stadium, it will be his 702^nd career game as a high school coach.

Peszneker played for six professional soccer teams – including the Minnesota Kicks and Minnesota Thunder – between 1980 and 1995 and is in his 34^th season as the head coach of the Wayzata girls team.

The Trojans won seven state championships between 1991 and 2012, along with six runner-up finishes. Edina’s lone state title came in 1986 and the Hornets have been state runners-up three times, including last year.

In a remarkable career filled with remarkable numbers, here’s a fact that is almost unfathomable: Peszneker has coached a combined 42 games inside the Metrodome and U.S. Bank Stadium, the longtime sites for MSHSL state soccer  games.

The indoor playing surfaces are obviously artificial turf, which is hardly a transition for teams that almost never play on any other surface. Wayzata, for example, hasn’t played on real grass for two or three years, Peszneker said.

“Playing professionally for all those years, we played on the old Astroturf, which is nothing like (the current turf),” Peszneker said. “So this is still a benefit to the kids. But if I had my druthers I would be playing on grass. We have all these injuries that we've been seeing; I've got two players out with ACLs and one with a fractured hip.

“But this gives us an opportunity for these kids to be able to experience playing in the Bank, as opposed to being outside and freezing. Lord knows what it would have been like today. So as much as it has its downs, it certainly has its ups and the ability to provide this atmosphere and these occasions for these kids.”

The only loss this season for Wayzata (20-1) came in the final game of the regular season, a 7-2 defeat to Edina. The Trojans will meet the Hornets (21-0) at 10:15 a.m. Friday.

History Is In The Stars

After winning a Class 1A championship in 2003, Holy Angels earned the Class 2 title a year ago. The Stars (19-1-1) will go for a repeat on Friday after defeating Totino-Grace 4-1 in Tuesday’s semifinals. Their opponent will be Benilde-St. Margaret’s (18-0-3), which defeated Winona 7-1.

Holy Angels played Armstrong/Cooper to a scoreless tie in the season opener and lost to 3A state finalist Wayzata 1-0 in its third game. Since then, the Stars have not lost while outscoring their opponents 121-6 and winning 18 consecutive games.

“This team has 16 players back from the state championship team last year,” said coach Dave Marshak. “So on the one hand, there's a lot of experience and we kind of know the drill and we know what it's like at U.S. Bank. On the other hand, I think there's been a little extra pressure because they want to sort of protect the title. … Finally getting past that last year and winning it all, I think it's made these players hungry.”

Finishing Strong At State

Totino-Grace and Maple Grove, two teams that may have been long shots to finish the soccer season playing indoors, will close the 2023 campaign in third-place games Wednesday at the indoor West St. Paul Regional Athletics Center.

In Class 2A, Totino-Grace (9-9-2) will meet Winona (18-2-1) in the third-place contest. In Class 3A, Maple Grove (9-7-4) will face Andover (12-5-2).

“We were really playing for this time of the year, and (the players) really stuck with us through a very tough schedule and some disappointing games, but we've learned a lot along the way and they really competed the entire year,” said Maple Grove coach Ben LeVahn. “We're super proud of where we started and where we got to.” 

STATE SOCCER SEMIFINALS

AT U.S. BANK STADIUM

GIRLS

TUESDAY

Class A

St. Paul Academy 4, Providence Academy 3

St. Charles 2, Southwest Christian 1

Class AA

Holy Angels 4, Totino-Grace 1

Benilde-St. Margaret’s 7, Winona 1

Class AAA

Edina 3, Andover 0

Wayzata 5, Maple Grove 1

BOYS

WEDNESDAY

Class A

5 p.m.: St. Cloud Cathedral vs. Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa

7 p.m.: Holy Family vs. St. Paul Academy

Class AA

12:30 p.m.: Orono vs. DeLaSalle

2:30 p.m.: Hill-Murray vs. St. Cloud Tech

Class AAA

8 a.m.: Wayzata vs. Woodbury

10 a.m.: Maple Grove vs. Park

--MSHSL senior content creator John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected]