2010 State Soccer Tournament Girls Class AA Semifinals

Wayzata  1-0  Stillwater

The #3 seed Wayzata Trojans (16-2-3) took on the  #2 seed Stillwater Ponies (21-2-0) in the first of the Girls Class AA semifinals at the Metrodome late Monday afternoon.

In the 32nd minute Hannah Keil sent a ball into the box that found the head of Taylor Wodnick. The senior forward flicked the ball past Ponies goalkeeper Sarah deStAubin to get the Trojans on the board. The score would stay deadlocked through the first half.

Just three minutes into the second half, Wodnick had the opportunity to expand the lead. She popped a loose ball up and over her defender and found herself one-on-one with deStAubin. She struck low and hard but laced the ball wide left from 7-yards out.

In the 56th minute Kiana Nickel played a perfectly weighted 30-yard through ball to Lauren Urke. The forward took a good first touch and then shot high over the goal.

Just four minutes later Wayzata nearly scored again when a ball was lofted over deStAubin from the left side near the end line. But the Trojans couldn’t capitalize with an open net and no defenders in the area.

Stillwater had made several gallant comebacks during the season including their state tournament quarterfinal victory. In that game they came back from 2 goals down. But this time it wasn’t to be. The Ponies made a valiant effort in the dying minutes of the game but were unable to find quality opportunities.

With one final chance the Ponies were awarded a free kick with 1 second left in the game. Katie Holder hit a 25 yard grass cutter but it was smothered by Wayzata goalkeeper Megan Pyrz to finish off the game.

Wayzata head coach Tony Peszneker, who has a 360-53-38 record, said he wasn’t really worried about Stillwater making a comeback even though his team was only up by a goal.

“We weren’t quite as worried as we may have let on only from the standpoint that they weren’t really getting in much in the way of opportunities. Shots from a long ways out are going to be tough to beat a top goalkeeper like ours. We knew they are a team that has a history of coming back but we didn’t see them doing anything different. They did put an extra person up front at the end, but we were ready for that. Although it would have been a little different if we had finished off a couple of the easy ones.”

Peszneker said that he feels the Lake Conference helps prepare his team for games like this.

“I think it’s the toughest conference in the State because we have a double round against some good schools,” said Peszneker. “How would you like to come over and play Eden Prairie twice, us twice, Hopkins twice, Edina twice, Minnetonka twice – I think the two rounds preps you better. I’ve always told my players, you only need 6 wins to be a state champion, all the other stuff is for show.”

Eden Prairie  2-0  Mounds View

The #1 seed Eden Prairie Eagles (19-0-1) had the Mounds View Mustangs (14-6-2) chasing from the opening minutes of the game.  The Eagles used combination play and a quickness though the midfield.

Mounds View showed a strong defense that would mount an occasional counter attack usually finished by senior midfielder Alex Ronchak.

But the Eagles perseverance and quality helped them jump to a lead in the 25th minute. Eden Prairie were threatening and deep near the Mustangs’ end line on the right side of goal. The Eagles played the ball back out to Katie Thykien who in turn played the ball back into the box. Aliena Krausert was making a diagonal run from left to right and reached around her defender and poked Thykien’s pass into the right side of goal.

The game remained tied through the half and finished with the Eagles having several good attempts at goal. The last skimming off the cross bar just 2 minutes from the half.

16 minutes into the second half, the Eagles gave themselves a cushion. On a great individual effort, the 2010 Class AA Ms. Soccer Taylor Uhl made a run down the left flank. Near the end line she cut her defender and rounded the corner toward the goal. At a seemingly impossible angle, Uhl launched a rocket of a shot over the head of Mounds View keeper Natalie Stoltz and into the roof of the net. The goal was arguably the best of Monday’s 6 games.

“I cut it across the defender so I knew I had her beat,” explained Uhl. “I saw the goalie stepping off her line looking for the cross so I thought why not? When you’re in that moment everything sort of slows down and you just think, put the ball in the back of the net.”

“When she rounded the corner I was thinking that ball could end up in the back of the net,” said head coach Tony Bidwell. “I’ve seen her score goals from angles that I didn’t think was possible. I marvel at her as a coach.”