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It was a story of ties. The Chisago Lakes Leopards U13 boy’s soccer team played well in their state tournament appearance, but a controversial call in their initial match against Austin led to a goal that cost them the game and ultimately sealed their fate.

At each age and team level, the eight state tournament entrants are split into two four-team round robin groups. Each team plays each of the other three teams in its group. The team with the best record, based on a point system for wins, goals and shutouts, advances to the championship game. Of the six total games played in the Leopards’ group, only one game didn’t end in a tie––the game the Leopards lost to Austin. So that means Austin will play in the state championship game tonight.

Here’s how it happened. Saturday, July 30, the Leopards fell behind Austin 1-0 midway through the first half. The Leopards responded with a goal by Cameron Bouwens just two minutes later, however, to knot the score at one goal apiece.

The controversy came late in the game. A Leopard player was called for a weak foul about 25 yards from the goal. The Austin player taking the resulting free kick lofted the ball high in the air towards the net. The shot just dropped over the outstretched hands of the leaping Leopard goalie and into the net to give Austin a 2-1 lead and, just a few minutes later, the victory.

Sunday night, the Wildcats were matched up against Plymouth. Plymouth scored in the first five minutes to take a 1-0. Even though Plymouth dominated play throughout the first half, the Leopards were able to come back midway through the first half and score. A Leopard player was fouled about 40 yards from the goal, and Ben Figini lined up to take a free kick. Figini’s free kick was similar to the Austin player’s free kick from the day before. Figini lofted his shot high in the air and it dropped behind the Plymouth goalie to tie the game at one goal apiece. The Leopards had another excellent scoring chance in the first half, but the Plymouth goalie beat a streaking Cameron Bouwens to a loose ball, pouncing on it just before Bouwens was able to knock it into the net.

Plymouth took the lead again in the second half, but the Leopards once gain tied it up. A Leopard player pushed the ball ahead of Bouwens in the offensive zone. Bouwens burst through the Plymouth defense and slammed the ball past the Plymouth goalie to tie the game 2-2. Despite dominating play the rest of the game, the Leopards were not able to add another goal and had to settle for a 2-2 tie.

The Leopards entered Monday’s game against Eastside needing to win to have a chance to advance to the state tournament final, but the game ended in a 1-1 tie. The Leopards’ goal came when Ben Stanghelle pushed the ball up the left side to Erik Trudeau. Trudeau carried it up the left wing and passed it across to Bouwens about 20 yards out. Bowens carried it into the penalty area and shot it past the Eastside goalie. Eastside put on a lot of pressure at the end of the game, but the Leopard defense held firm, knocking Eastside out of tournament contention.

“I’m really proud of these guys,” said Leopard head coach Steve Figini. We only had one substitute, which meant everyone had a lot of playing time. But the kids held up pretty well. I think we would have had a much better chance at victories if we could have given some of the players a little more rest.”

“We had a successful season. We did well enough in the standings to move up from the Classic 3 level to Classic 2 next year. The kids are ready to play at that level, but we’ll need a more full roster to be able to compete week in and week out and have a chance to do well in the postseason.”

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