State Tournament Quarterfinals Get Under Way with Girls A and AA Action

Cold temperatures, wind and occasional rain welcomed players to the opening games of the 2010 Minnesota State High School League Soccer Tournament. Four games took place on Wednesday night: Two girls Class A games at St. Cloud State University and 2 girls Class AA games at Hopkins High School.

Hopkins – Girls Class AA

Wayzata v Duluth East
It took Wayzata Trojan All State forward Taylor Wodnick only 16 minutes to unlock the Duluth East defense. After Kylie Schwarz took a shot that rebounded off the Greyhound goalkeeper Sonja Barr, Wodnick didn’t waste the opportunity. She pounced on the ball and shot past the Duluth East goalkeeper for the first goal of the game which tuned out to be the game winner.

In the 30th minute Wodnick became the provider by giving a nice pass to Sarah Guidera. The senior forward slotted the ball into the net putting the Trojans up 2-0.

Late in the game Guidera feed Chelsey Ulrich from the left flank. Ulrich made a run straight down the center of the field and with her second touch from 18 yards out blasted the ball into the far left side of the goal. The 79th minute Trojan goal sealed the game for Wayzata. It was Ulrich’s first goal of the year.

“We’ve been practicing and practicing following up on rebounds and I guess that really paid off tonight,” said Wodnick referring to her game-winning goal. “Coach has told us that we’ve had some issues with that and we really needed to follow up on shots. I guess it worked this time.”

“I think scoring early in the game and getting a couple of goals in the first half so we could relax a little bit helped us,” said Tony Peszneker, head coach for the Trojans. “They (Greyhounds) play a very direct style and have a really good work ethic so scoring two in the first half helped relieve the pressure.”

Elk River v Stillwater
The #2 seeded Stillwater Ponies took on the Elk River Elks in the second game of the evening at Hopkins High School. Elk River attacked early and tested the Ponies defense in the opening minutes of the game. The Elks won a corner kick just 10 minutes into the game. Mari Wallestad charged the net with two other Elks on Emily Ecklund’s corner kick. Her driven ball found the head of Wallestad and she drove the ball past Stillwater keeper Sarah de StAubin for the opening goal.

Wallestad came close again in the 23rd minute on another corner. Her header beat de StAubin to the right side but a Ponies defender stationed at the near post saved the day, deflecting the ball away with her body.

Just 4 minutes into the second half the Elks Michalea Gibas laid out a well-paced throughball that found Kelsey Daulton. The senior forward had been giving the Ponies problems the first half, using her speed to get behind the Stillwater defense that was playing a high line. Daulton beat two defenders and took several touches on the ball before shooting past de StAubin to notch the Elks’ second goal of the night.

The Ponies finally got on the board in the second half. Katie Holder scored for Stillwater at the 50-minute mark with a 25-yard shot.

The goal seemed to inspire the Ponies, possessing better and increasing the pressure on the Elks defense. In the 66th minute that pressure almost turned into another goal when Stillwater hit the right post with a hard shot. Only a few minutes later Ponies junior forward Katie Holder crossed the ball to Rachel Berns, who headed in from close range.

With the score tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, the two teams prepared for sudden death overtime. Stillwater again came out on the attack and just 2 minutes in Rachel Berns scored the game winner for the Ponies. It was Berns’ second goal of the night.

“Molly Allen took the corner kick and it went right to Maureen Stormont,” said Berns as she explained the goal. “Maureen headed at the keeper. It bounced off her and I just one-timed it in.”

Stillwater head coach Andy Olson says his team has had too many close calls this season. He says coming from behind is nothing new for his team. “Unfortunately this has happened way too many times this season,” said  Olson. “The positive of that is we know we can come back and we don’t quit. It was typical of the sectionals when we were down to Cretin and came back. We’ve been down before but give them credit, they just never quit.”

St. Cloud State University – Girls Class A

Blake v East Grand Forks
In other Class A Girls action, Blake School defeated East Grand Forks 1-0 in the early game at St. Cloud State University.  Bears sophomore midfielder Nicole Kozlak intercepted a pass from Green Wave goalkeeper Chelsey Grassel. Kozlak tucked the ball into the lower left corner.  The goal, which was scored in the 16th minute, was the game winner.

Mahtomedi v St. Peter
The second game of the night saw the #2 seed Mahtomedi take on St. Peter.  Two junior forwards did all the scoring for the Zephyrs. Anna Stonehouse scored in the first half and Nicole Sames in the second half to give Mahtomedi a 2-0 victory over the Saints. St. Peter was outshot by the Zephyrs 17-2.