Holy Angels won the Class 2A girls soccer state
championship in a “Stranger Things” type of game Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Among those things were: 1) The Stars goalkeeper scored on a 55-yard shot in
the first half, and 2) They celebrated twice, once before they actually won and
once after it was official.
Holy Angels won a shootout 6-5 to defeat Mahtomedi,
the four-time defending state champ, after the score was 2-2 at the end of
regulation and through 10 minutes of overtime. The craziest goal came when senior
Holy Angels keeper Chloe Sandness scored on a free kick from midfield in the
first half, the third time she has scored such a goal this season.
“It's a dream
to score goals as a goalkeeper,” she said. “I just knew that I needed to get it
on frame and I needed to trust my girls. And I just put a little power on it
and I was just thinking, ‘Get there.’ And (my teammates) turned around and
started screaming. I'm like, ‘What happened? Oh, I scored.’ And I almost
started crying. Because that's like a dream for me to score during the state
championship game. It was just amazing.”
The winning
goal was scored by sophomore Briarleigh Dahl. Before that, Holy Angels coach
Dave Marshak was confused on the shootout score and began to celebrate on a
previous goal; the players ran to their student section to celebrate before the
officials informed them that Mahtomedi still had a shot coming. That goal was
good, followed by Dahl’s shot to clinch it.
“I just want
to say it was entirely my fault, that early celebration,” Marshak said. “I lost
count. And these guys bailed me out. It would have been the worst moment in my
coaching career if we had celebrated and not won it.”
Facing a
multiple-time state championship team in the title game can be a daunting
order, but Marshak said his players didn’t look at it like that.
“Honestly, I
think it takes the pressure off when you're playing the four-time defending
state champions. They are incredible. That program, it's a machine that year in
and year out they just turn out college-level talent. And so we had a
conversation where we felt like we could win the game but we didn't think many
other people would be thinking that.
“To be
honest, if you had offered me (shootout) kicks at the start of the day, I
probably would have taken it. It's just an incredible accomplishment for these
players.”
The coaches in the 2A girls championship
game combined for the most experience in any of the title games. Holy Angels’
Marshak is in his 16th year as head coach with a career record of
224-69-22; Mahtomedi’s Dave Wald has a record of 272-53-20 in 17 years. They
combine for 33 years and a record of 496-122-42.
Better Late Than Never
Wayzata used two late goals to defeat Woodbury 3-2 in
overtime in the Class 3A boys soccer title game.
Woodbury led 2-1 at halftime behind two goals by Olin Franzwa. The second
half was scoreless until Wayzata senior Joe Burica scored on a rebound
goal with less than two minutes left in regulation.
“I was
absolutely exhausted,” Burica said. “But you always find a little bit more
energy when you score. … a moment like that,
you can't describe it, it's just surreal.”
The winning
goal came midway through the first overtime period. Senior forward Joe Highfield was credited with the
goal after his shot caromed off two Woodbury players and into the net.
Zero Sum Game
When
Rosemount edged Edina 1-0 in the Class 3A girls soccer state championship game,
the goose egg on the opponent’s side of the score was nothing new. With senior
goalkeeper Jordan Hecht backing up an extremely strong defense, the Irish shut
out 18 opponents this season en route to a 21-1 record. Their loss was a 2-0
decision to Stillwater, which was the only team to score twice against the Irish.
Friday’s
win completed a strong run to the top for Rosemount, which finished third at
state in 2019 and fourth in 2021, with a loss to Eagan in the 2020 section title
game.
Hecht, who gave up only five goals in 22 games and made
zero saves Friday, said, “In
a lot of games, what I do is I watch and it gets a little bit boring. I think
when it comes to games like these, I'd rather watch than have to do something.
I think it showed today we were super solid as a backline. It was great.
“We’ve played some games where I touched the ball two or three times and those
are quite boring, but I'd rather win these kinds of games than have to make
some crazy saves.”
--MSHSL media specialist 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 jmillea@mshsl.org
State Soccer Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium
Friday’s
State Championship Games
3A girls:
Rosemount 1, Edina 0
3A boys: Wayzata 3, Woodbury
2 (OT)
2A girls:
Holy Angels 2, Mahtomedi 1 (shootout)
2A boys: Hill-Murray vs. DeLaSalle
1A girls:
St. Anthony Village vs. St. Paul
Academy and Summit School
1A boys: St. Paul Academy and Summit
School vs. St. Anthony Village
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