2024 Soccer State Tournament: Class AA Girls Semifinals
Posted: Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - 4:57 PM
Top-seeded Holy Angels finds itself in a familiar place. The top-seeded Stars earned a berth in the Class AA championship game following a 4-1 victory over Orono in the semifinals of the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Soccer State Tournament on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Junior forward Ellen Neuharth, a University of Minnesota recruit, scored two goals in the second half to send Holy Angels (20-1-0) into the title game for the third consecutive season. In 2022, the Stars were the Class AA champions, and last year, they were the runner-ups. Junior defender Addy Judson, who has committed to play at Ole Miss, opened the scoring for the Stars in the first half.
The victory runs the Stars’ winning streak to 17 consecutive games. The only loss was a 3-2 setback to Wayzata in the fourth game of the season. Earlier in the day, top-seeded Wayzata advanced to the Class AAA championship game.
In the second semifinal, No. 2-seeded Mahtomedi raced to a 7-0 victory over No. 3 Mankato East. Mahtomedi, Minnesota’s most decorated girls soccer program with 10 championships, also has two runner-up finishes. The latest was a 2-1 loss to Holy Angels in 2022.
Senior forward Olivia Thiele scored three consecutive goals in the second half to send the Zephyrs (18-2-1) to their fifth consecutive victory. Mahtomedi ended the regular season with a 2-0 loss to East Ridge, the No. 2 seed in the Class AAA field. Senior midfielder Sophia Peer chipped in two goals and added an assist.
Mahtomedi's most recent run of titles was three in a row from 2017 through 2019. After the 2020 state tournament was cancelled because of the global pandemic, the Zephyrs returned to their winning ways in 2021.
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