John’s Journal: A Magical First Trip To Indoor Soccer (And Indoor Air)

 Taige Puetz was screaming in celebration … into a cell phone. The head coach of the St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura girls soccer team isn’t one to keep her emotions hidden, and when one of the teenagers on the bench clicked “video” and “record” after the Saints scored their first goal in Wednesday’s state quarterfinals, she scanned the celebrating players and then took a few steps toward the coach. Taige looked into the phone and absolutely hollered with joy.

That scene marks a highlight of the Saints’ season, which will continue with their first appearance in the state semifinals Tuesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. They will meet Southwest Christian in the Class A bracket, with the winner advancing to the state championship game on Nov. 3.

The road to state is always an interesting ride, and that was certainly the case for St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura. The small-school cooperative teams in southeast Minnesota haven’t been considered soccer powers, but that may have changed. Last year, the girls got to state for the first time before losing in the quarterfinals, and this year the Saints boys soccer team reached the same point before falling to Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 5-0 at Irondale. Just before that game, the Saints girls completed their dream of playing indoor with a 3-0 win over St. Croix Prep.

The screaming video came after senior Araceli White scored the game’s first goal on a penalty kick with 13 minutes left in the first half. Araceli added another goal in the second half and junior Samantha Perez also found the net for the Saints (17-1-2).

On the other end of the field, Saints senior goalkeeper Makadyn Gust anchored a defense that has stood strong all season. The shutout was the 11^th of the year for the Saints defense, which withstood several St. Croix Prep scoring threats in the second half.

St. Croix Prep, a charter school in Stillwater, brought along a large, loud student section, and those kids made noise of their own in the game’s second half.

“Props to their crowd because I think their crowd got into our defense’s head every time they even crossed the halfway line,” Puetz said. “Even if something wasn't exciting, I think that (screaming) just naturally makes people frazzled. So we played on our heels, but then when we got that second goal, it was like we knew it. We’re a team that loves momentum.”

The final horn capped a 24-hour period in which the Saints saw and did a lot. They practiced on their school’s turf field late Tuesday afternoon, finishing before a heavy band of thunderstorms invaded the western provinces of Winona County. The rain forced the Saints boys team to practice in the school’s auxiliary gym. The St. Charles football team was scheduled to host Lewiston-Altura -- the schools have cooperatives teams in soccer but are rivals in other sports – in a playoff opener Tuesday but that game was postponed for a day (with L-A defeating SC 35-30).

After practice, the girls soccer team headed to the school district’s bus barn to decorate bus No. 18, which they would ride to the Twin Cities the next day. Their work was masterful, with players’ names and numbers on each window along with messages such as “Go Saints!” and “State Bound!” and “I (heart) Soccer!” While working on their vehicular art project, they heard what sounded like explosions above them … it was the big-fisted storm rolling through.

No. 18 left town at 9:30 Wednesday morning, escorted on its way by a cadre of fire trucks, ambulances and horns in full honk. The drive to Irondale High School is nearly two hours, and once reaching the Twin Cities the team had lunch at a Chipotle. Then they spent time at the Science of Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul.

“We had some fun there,” Puetz said. “But I think we overestimated how much time we'd want to spend in there because at about 1:30 I was super tired myself.”

The team returned to the bus, had quiet time for a half hour or so and then found what the coach called “a super fun park.” The park had a zipline and other entertainments, and the girls enjoyed it.

Game time was 5:30 and the Saints were at Irondale with plenty of time to spare. They were given use of a locker room, where they dressed for the game and listened to music. 

The national anthem was played at 5:21 p.m. On the bench, the Saints huddled up tight for some final words from the coaching staff, including assistants Brian Davidson and Amelia Crouley. The kids ended the pregame portion of their day with a repeated chant of “SCLA!”

The game began early at 5:24 and the Saints quickly put their stamp on things: aggressive on offense and brick wall on defense. The first great scoring chance came 10 minutes in when Perez launched a blast that missed by inches. Gust’s first save came two minutes later, an easy two-handed midsection catch.

Right before White’s penalty kick, this announcement was made from the SC/LA bench: “We believe in you!” Araceli put her left foot into the ball and knocked it to the goalkeeper’s left. It was her 22^nd goal in 20 games this season.

The Saints had given up only nine goals all fall, and that theme continued despite the talented Lions’ strong second-half offensive push.

“We did not talk about the defensive perspective,” Gust said. “We don't ever talk about letting goals in; we all have in the back of our head that we don't want them to score because it's really hard to lose a soccer game if they don't put the ball in the back of the net. Our mentality is just to play together, believe in each other, trust each other, and then we go from there. And that's just like building blocks. When our defense is set, then our midfields get set and our forwards get set. And vice versa.”

Only two opponents had scored two goals against the Saints, so when Perez made it a 2-0 game with 10:52 left in the second half, the pressure valves started releasing.

“We played on our heels in the second half, but then when we got that second goal, it was like we knew it,” Puetz said. “We’re a team that loves momentum.”

White capped the scoring in the final 96 seconds with a lovely shot from the left side that veered around a defender and off the keeper’s hands.

After everything that had transpired in 24 hours, the Saints were going to play indoor soccer on the giant stage for the first time.

“It's always about team chemistry,” said White, who like Perez and Gust was named all-state earlier in the week. “We’re always together and we’re always building the bonds between each other.”

St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura senior Hadli Heim had been saying that all she wanted to do was smell the air inside U.S. Bank Stadium. That’s a pretty simple way to state a goal.

“That's what she said, ‘I want to smell the air,’ ” said Puetz, who was named the Class A coach of the year. “We're just excited to get in there and have some fun. I'm so excited. I honestly can't put into words how good this feels and how proud I am, because we've worked for it.”

--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 jmillea@mshsl.org