Day 1 Soccer State Quarterfinal Recap
Posted: Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 10:59 PM
Rainfall ranging from steady to heavy with lightning strikes creating delays were storylines that accompanied opening night of the Minnesota State High School League’s soccer state tournament on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
The Class AA boys quarterfinal between top-seeded Orono and unseeded Northfield at Eden Prairie endured perhaps the most weather challenges with three lightning delays. After the 90-minute combined delay, the teams still couldn’t find the game’s elusive first goal and needed overtime. Two minutes into the extra session, sophomore Tiernan Bonner slammed in a one-timer after a pass from teammate Lisle Cherwein, a senior.
The victory sends the Spartans (16-1-2) into next week’s semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 1 against the winner between No. 4 Worthington and No. 5 DeLaSalle, the defending Class AA champion, at U.S. Bank Stadium. Worthington and DeLaSalle will play their quarterfinal on Thursday at Eden Prairie High School.
It was Orono’s eighth consecutive victory since suffering its only loss, a 4-1 setback to Breck, on Sept. 27. Northfield, the Section 1AA champion, finished the season 9-8-1.
In the lower bracket of Class AA, No. 2 Hill-Murray raced to a 6-2 victory over Mahtomedi at White Bear Lake High School. It was Hill-Murray’s second decisive victory over Mahtomedi this season. On Sept. 14, the Pioneers defeated the Zephyrs be the same 6-2 margin during a Metro East Conference game. Senior forward Davinsly Pearcy and senior midfielder Jacob Dinzeo had two goals each in the second half for the Pioneers. Hill-Murray (15-3-2), the Class AA runner-up in 2022, advances to play the winner between No. 3 Cloquet/Esko/Carlton and St. Cloud Tech next week in the semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. Those teams play Wednesday at White Bear Lake.
In Class AAA, Park is making sure its first state tournament trip since 1994 will be an extended one. The Wolfpack advanced to the big-school semifinals with a 1-0 upset victory over No. 3 Minnetonka at Farmington High School. Senior midfielder Noah Haupt and senior defender Brayden Kortus combined on the goal that send the Wolfpack (12-7) to the Class AAA semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Late in the second half, Haupt set up for a free kick in the deep right quadrant. He sent a high, arching volley to Kortus, who rose amid a mass of players to score on a header with just more than five minutes remaining in regulation time.
While Park was advancing, top-seeded Wayzata, the defending Class AAA champion, cruised to a 5-0 victory over St. Michael-Albertville at Kuhlman Stadium in Edina. Senior forward Lassi Koivukangas and junior forward Aiden Judickas had two goals each for the Trojans (18-0-2).
About two hours later, No. 4 Woodbury completed a 6-0 victory over No. 5 New Prague at Farmington. Senior forward Gianluca Jones scored two goals for the Royals and sophomore defender Landin Reilly added two of his own late to seal Woodbury’s trip to the semifinals against Wayzata.
In the final game to be completed in a long night of quarterfinals, No. 2 Holy Family Catholic defeated unseeded Cristo Rey Jesuit 2-1 at Eden Prairie in Class A. Junior midfielder Heny Lisko had both goals for the Fire (13-3-3), one in each half. Cristo Rey, making its state tournament debut, finished the season 11-5-3. Sophomore Jorge Ramirez Sanchez scored for the Pumas with just more than four minutes remaining to pull Cristo Rey to within a goal.
