2010 State Soccer Tournament Boys Class A Quarterfinals; Prairie Seeds Academy and SPA Prevail

Roseville High School – Boys Class A

Prairie Seeds Academy  7-0  Proctor Rails

The section 5A champion Prairie Seeds Academy Lycans (17-0-1) rolled to another victory on Friday evening in a Class A quarterfinal. This time their victim was the Proctor Rails (15-5-1) winner of section 7A.

Little did Prairie Seeds Academy’s Carlos Boquin know he would have a 3-goal, 2-assist night when he scored his first goal in the 10th minute, which opened the scoring for the Lycans. The freshman forward accepted a pass from Christian Dominguez when making a diagonal run cutting through the Rails defense. He settled the ball before shooting past Proctor goalkeeper Iziah Schramm.

Boquin’s second goal was a killer for Proctor. The Rails defense and particularly Schramm had kept Proctor in the game. But 1 minute from half time Boquin struck again. Prairie Seeds was awarded a corner kick which was taken by Dominguez. He played the ball out high to Boquin who had posted near the top corner of the penalty box. The freshman took a touch and then from 20-yards out blasted the ball to the far upper post notching his second of the night.

Freshman forward Carlos Boquin tallied 3 goals and 2 assists on the night.

Being down two goals, Proctor was forced to throw more players forward. With the Rails being stretched, Prairie Seeds used those spaces vacated by Proctor to counter attack, a tactic that paid dividends in the 52nd minute. Gerald Ben played the ball wide to Boquin who was playing the left forward position in a 4-3-3. Boquin cut the ball back inside at the top left corner of the penalty box and with his right foot slotted the ball low to the far post for his third goal of the night.

Twelve minutes later Boquin returned the favor for Ben, playing a ball to the senior forward who fired past Schramm.

8th grader Sirleaf Wiah scored in the 73nd minute and Boquin grabbed one more assist in the 64th minute feeding Ben who scored his 28th goal of the season for the Lycans.

Issac Kanneh closed out the scoring with an 80th minute goal.

“I come to each game to work,” said a smiling Boquin through an interpreter. “Everything I do is for the school. It’s not about an individual effort. We work hard during the week and we bring what we learn during the week onto the field at game time. The second goal we scored before the half just motivated us even more. It always seems that it’s the second goal we score that ignites our team.”

“The way we play our 4-3-3 system gives Carlos a lot of freedom to use his energy and skill to move forward,” said head coach Youssef Darbaki. “Isaac Kanneh is our playmaker. He’s the guy who connects our defense with our forwards. He’s so important. With our long balls and the speed up top and between Mounir (Darbaki), Carlos and Gerald (Ben) we can attack. We do a lot of drills where we work to get behind the defense. As talented as our forwards are, it’s made possible because of Kanneh.”

St. Paul Academy 2-0 Rochester Lourdes

The late game at Roseville High School featured the St. Paul Academy Spartans (15-4-1) the Champions of section 3A versus the Rochester Lourdes Eagles (15-2-3) who won the 1A championship. The Lourdes were the #4 seed in the boys Class A pairings but it was SPA who came out of the gate quickly and dominated play.

SPA was awarded a free kick in the 13th minute of play. Team captain and senior midfielder Nick Forsgren hit the dead-ball into the box. He found the head of Mac Stringer who nodded in from close distance to put the Spartans up 1-0.

In the 34th minute Sam Forsgren, younger brother of Nick, started a play as he penetrated into the top of the box. The freshman forward laid the ball off to Gabe Brennaman, who returned the pass to Forsgren. He worked his way between two Lourdes defenders and found himself one-on-one with Rochester goalkeeper Will Elder. Forsgren slotted the ball low right and put the Spartans up 2-0. The goal wowed the crowd and will have to go down as one of the best of the 2010 tournament.

“It’s nice to see him score those goals and it’s nice for him to do well,” said older brother Nick. “I’m proud of him.”

The game had several momentum shifts with the Eagles looking better in the second half. But neither team was able to score. The Spartans now move on to the semifinals.

After the game SPA head coach Franklyn Tawah heaped praise on All-State midfielder Nick Forsgren.

“Forsgren is the most proficient and athletic high school player in the State right now,” said Tawah. “He didn’t have his best game today but it’s because I pulled him back a bit in this game and had him be more of a distributor. I know he could score a goal against any team in the state, but today I needed him to play a different role.”

Tawah, who’s been actively playing and coaching for over thirty years, said he wouldn’t give away any secrets, but he already has a plan to counter high-scoring Prairie Seeds Academy who SPA will now face in the semifinals.

“I kind of know that team,” said Tawah who smiled and seemed to have a slight twinkle in his eye. “Youssef (Darbaki, head coach of Prairie Seeds Academy) played for me for many years and was one of the best players I’ve coached. Prairie Seeds is coached by someone who is very knowledgeable about the game. I know the players on that team and I know the coach. So we will prepare for them a little differently.”