2010 State Soccer Tournament Boys Class AA Semifinals
Minneapolis Southwest 2-0 Stillwater Area
By Kyle Nelson
The first Class AA Boys’ Semifinal match featured the undefeated Minneapolis Southwest Lakers (21-0-0) against the Stillwater Area Ponies (18-3-1). Both teams advanced to the semifinals in 1-0 quarterfinal games at Park High School, but the Lakers were able to find the back of the net twice on their way to the State Tournament championship game Thursday.
Minneapolis Southwest dominated most of possession during the first half, building attacking runs from the center of the field. Most of their trips ended with attempts on goal, out-shooting Stillwater 7-2. While most of the shots didn’t really worry the Stillwater keeper or defense, it did not bode well for the back line if they continued to let the ball through.
The bending Stillwater back line broke in the 23rd minute. Southwest earned a free kick a few yards from the left corner of the penalty box. Senior midfielder John Pitsenbarger stepped up and sent the ball to the far post. The ball was knocked down by a Stillwater defender, but was unable to clear the ball to safety. The ball popped out in front of junior attacker Mohamud Abdi, who pounced on the ball firing a rocket into the middle of the net.
A dangerous chance for Minneapolis Southwest as Stillwater defends.
Nearing the end of the first half Stillwater began to settle in and matched their opponents in attacking runs, but still found it difficult to break through a back line that has only allowed two goals so far this season. “We have really good defenders,” said Lakers coach Jamie Plaisance, “so we really don’t need to worry about a lot.” Stillwater could have drawn even with a bit of luck from an errant touch that was lofted towards the far post and bounced off the top of the crossbar.
With a one-goal lead at the half the Lakers continued to dictate the flow of the game making it difficult for Stillwater to turn the game around. “When you keep the ball away from the other team they aren’t going to get a lot of chances,” explained Coach Plaisance, “so we focus a lot on just possessing the ball and keeping it away from the other team.
Things did not look good for a Stillwater comeback when goalkeeper Brett Ylonen went down with an injury after colliding with a Southwest attacker. After spending a bit of time down on the turf, Ylonen got up and appeared to shake off the challenge. It looked as though he was still feeling it later in the half.
Southwest doubled their lead in the 61st minute when junior midfielder Max Winter found the path of junior attacker Derrick Washington with a square pass across the penalty box. Washington took the ball in stride, one-timing the shot into the center of the net.
The goal sealed a trip to the finals for the Lakers who had their eye on the championship from the start, but weren’t going to get too far ahead of themselves. “The great thing about this team is that they really do focus on one game at a time,” said Plaisance after the game. “At the beginning of the season we all knew what our goal was, but we haven’t really talked about it. We just focused on our next opponent.”
Apple Valley Eagles 2-1 Lakeville North
By Brian Quarstad
The match up in the second game of the Boys Class AA semifinals held much intrigue. For the Apple Valley Eagles (22-0-0) they were shooting for their 46th consecutive win and their second consecutive Boys AA championship game. The Lakeville North Panthers (10-5-5) didn’t have the steller record of Apple Valley but they had matched up well with the Eagles earlier in the season losing only by a goal. In fact only once had the Panthers given up more than one goal in a game this season.
The contest started out at a frenetic pace with chances on both ends. Soon both teams settled into more sustainable pace.
The first half was full of chances for both teams with the Eagles having a 9-5 shot advantage. But Apple Valley’s chances were by far the more dangerous. Panthers goalkeeper Connor Revsbeck kept his team in the game with several excellent saves. None better than 25 minutes into the first half when Nate Tenpas for Apple Valley turned and shot hard, low just inside the left post. Revsbeck came to the rescue extending out and tipping the ball wide.
The second half started with the Eagles on the attack with three good scoring opportunities in the first 5 minutes. But it was in the 65th minute that Apple Valley’s Hudson Fasching looked sure to score. He was slipped a through ball that sent him penetrating through the Panther defense. He carried the ball 20 yards and instead of shooting tried to touch it around Revsbeck. He made it around the keeper but was thwarted by a Panther defender who cleared the ball out of danger.
Just 2 minutes later the Eagles broke though with a Tom Obarski goal. Central midfielder Simon Goettle played a ball to Obarski on the left side of the penalty box. He dribbled square across the top of the box and exploded by one defender. He used the extra space he earned to fire to the right side of the net and past Revsbeck to put the Eagles on the board.
In the 71st minute the Panthers turned the game on it’s head with a solo effort by Torjorn Morkeberg. The senior midfielder took the ball down the field on a 30-yard dribble. When he got near the box he turned towards the goal and calmly slotted home the equalizer low to to the far post past and under Eagle goalkeeper Tim Van Beck’s dive.
With just minutes left on the clock Apple Valley crashed the Panthers net with several good opportunities. But for each and every Apple Valley chance there was an equally heroic Lakeville defensive effort.
With just 1 minute and 30 seconds left on the clock before the game would go to overtime Apple Valley was awarded a throw-in from the right side of the field and 25 yards from the endline. Obarski took a long throw in that found it’s way to the head of 6’4″ Hudson Fasching. The sophomore forward flicked the ball into the middle of the box where Apple Valley’s Dane Gunstrom somehow found a hole in a crowded Panthers defense to score the dramatic game winner.
“We work on that play all the time,” said assistant Apple Valley coach Chris Lee. Obarski and Fasching were both sitting next to Lee stretching cramped muscles and smiling in agreement. “Tom (Obarski) has that big throw and Hudson can get up for the ball.”
Apple Valley had only allowed 4 goals this season, with the last one coming over a month ago on September 30th. Lakeville North coach Pete Tyma was very aware of those stats before and after the game and praised his team for their effort.
“What do you say after a game like this,” said Tyma. “They’re a machine and we got a goal on them. When’s the last time someone scored a goal on them. I’ve very proud of our team.”
Panther goalkeeper Conner Revsbeck’s outstanding job of keeping his team in the game didn’t go unnoticed. Apple Valley has scored many a goal playing in hard shots and then capitalizing on rebounds.
“Revsbeck made some outstanding saves,” said Eagle’s head coach Chuck Scanlon. “There were some tight, low and hard shots and he left us no rebound. Fasching was on the doorstep three or four times waiting for a rebound and he gave us nothing. He was really fantastic.”
“We knew exactly what we were up against,” continued Scanlon. “There was only one team all year that scored more than one goal on them and that was Kennedy. So we knew it would not be easy. Our guys are really tired. They worked really hard in the first half and I think Lakeville had fresher legs in the second half. So I really give our guys a lot of credit for digging deep and getting the win.”
Senior forward Tom Obarski was already looking ahead to Thursday’s matchup between the two undefeated Class AA boys teams in the state, Southwest and his own team Apple Valley.
“This is going to be a great contest obviously,” said Obarski. “Number 1 versus number 2 and both teams undefeated. They play a different style than we do but they have a lot of really good players. We’re just going to have to mark up good and score a couple of goals.”
“Southwest is an awfully well coached team and Jamie (Plaisance) does an awful good job with them,” said Scanlon. “They’re good in the midfield and they have that goalie (Maliq Hunsberger) who’s a giant. They’ve got some exciting strikers up front. But were going to have to control the ball better and keep it away from their dangerous players which means we’re going to have to use more midfield play. I also think they’ll be marking Obarski pretty closely so some other guys are going to have to step up.”
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Countering my previous post on player: Obarski is pretty good. I think he could play D1. I saw the games today and think the AA final will actually be a competitive game. SW looked strong enough defensively to counter some of AV lump it and run game. Although I’m not sure if SW can score against AV. The only disappointment was Stillwater. They looked unprepared and poorly organized.
The key for SW in their game will they be able to maintain possession with even more limited time and space than they are accustom to? They will be needing to support the ball with multiple players that are thinking 2 passes ahead. If they don’t know their option before they receive the ball, AV will not give them a chance to think about it after they receive the pass.
I’m still predicting a 2-1 SW victory. I’ve probably just jinxed them
I know several Stillwater parents who were frustrated with the team’s digresson this year. They started with players from two great club teams (including last year’s really good u16 state cup champs) and turned them into self-doubting bootballers. I saw them once and was not impressed. Surprised they beat Woodbuy twice.
BQ- when was the last time all 4 boys finalists A(tied) & AA(untied) were undefeated?