It’s rare for a first-year head coach to lead a team all
the way to a state championship game. Grant Steine, however, is not the typical
rookie head coach.
The Orono Spartans boys soccer team, led by Steine,
will play for the Class 2A title on Friday after they snuck past DeLaSalle 4-3 in
double overtime in Wednesday’s state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. Orono
will face Hill-Murray, which defeated St. Cloud Tech 6-1 in the other
semifinal.
Steine is a longtime club soccer coach who has known
many of the varsity players since they were 12 years old. He joined the high
school coaching staff two years ago, when the Spartans won their second state
title (the first was in 2015).
“I know
these boys and know what they're capable of,” he said.
The Spartans (17-1-2) lost to Breck 1-0 and played to
ties with New Prague (2-2) and Waconia (0-0) during the regular season. They
come into the state championship game on a nine-game winning streak.
No Orono players were listed among this year’s
all-state teams, which Steine admitted was due to a technical error. He electronically
submitted his all-state nominations, including putting senior Lisle Cherwien (who
scored the winning goal Wednesday) up for Mr. Soccer. He was crushed when he
realized the note had not gone through.
“I really
don't want to relive it because it was one of the worst days of my life,” he
said. “These guys have showed leadership throughout it and supported me, as
well. So I’m very appreciative of that.”
The Highest Highs, The Lowest Lows
One of the most emotional sights on a soccer field
comes when a sudden-strike goal is scored in overtime to end a game. One team
is leaping and sprinting and grinning and hugging while players on the other
team drop to the turf in a heartbreaking scene.
Heartbreaking was a word repeated several times by Park
boys soccer coach Andrew Bourgoine after the Wolfpack lost to Maple Grove 2-1
in the Class 3A state semifinals. Park led 1-0 before the Crimson tied the
score late in regulation.
“Soccer is
sometimes a cruel game,” Bourgoine said. “That's why I love coaching it,
though. If we would have won that game, it would have been the best moment
probably in my career. But soccer is cruel and there's heartbreak in it and
that was heartbreak. It was heartbreaking for me to see the kids after what
happened.
“We were 2
minutes and 21 seconds away from a state title game. That's how close we came
to pretty much beating three ranked teams in a row. … It's the most proud I've
ever been, even after a loss. I'm the most proud as a coach in this moment,
today, right now. I just love all these kids to death.”
Roles
For Every Senior
At Hill-Murray, there is room for every senior who has
been in the boys soccer program throughout their high school career. Coach Jeff
Zupfer talked about that after the Pioneers defeated St. Cloud Tech, using the
word “family.”
“They're
part of the family and they've committed to us for four years and at the end of
it, we'll find a way to commit back to them,” he said.
Some players
become team managers as seniors and some take on the responsibilities of a
statistician or other off-the-field role. No matter what, their commitment will
be rewarded.
Zupfer also
said the Pioneers, a veteran group with 16 seniors who finished as state
runner-up last year, didn’t look too far into the future this season. Instead,
they focused on the present moment.
“That was
the challenge that we looked at as a coaching staff,” he said. “We worked on
just being present in the moment and not trying to think about the prize on
Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium. You know, whether it was in August just trying to
stay present in the moment in a training session, or any game that we played along
the way, it was a challenge. But it also was helpful to have a really good
group of seniors. That leadership, I think, really kept us grounded and just
kept us in the present.”
STATE SOCCER SEMIFINALS
AT U.S. BANK STADIUM
GIRLS
Class A
St Paul Academy 4, Providence Academy 3
St. Charles 3, Southwest Christian 2
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
Class A
St. Cloud Cathedral vs. Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa
Holy Family vs. St. Paul Academy
Class AA
Orono 4, DeLaSalle 3 (OT)
Hill-Murray 6, St. Cloud Tech 1
Class AAA
Wayzata 3, Woodbury 2 (OT)
Maple Grove 2, Park 1 (OT)
SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
FRIDAY AT U.S. BANK STADIUM
8 a.m. 3A boys: Wayzata vs. Maple Grove
10:15 a.m. 3A girls: Edina vs. Wayzata
12:30 p.m. 2A boys: Orono vs. Hill-Murray
2:45 p.m. 2A girls: Holy Angels vs. Benilde-St.
Margaret’s
5 p.m. 1A boys: St. Cloud Cathedral or Pine
Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa vs. Holy Family or St. Paul Academy
7:15 p.m. 1A girls: St. Paul Academy vs. St. Charles
--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
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