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Chisago Lakes 3, Esko/Carlton 1 (Section 7A Championship)

The lethal scoring combination of seniors Rachel Diers and Cassie Trandahl accounted for all three goals as the top-seeded Wildcat girls' soccer team beat second-seeded Esko/Carlton 3-1 in the section championship game at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth on Thursday, October 21 to send the Wildcats to the state tournament for the first time in school history. The Wildcats (15-5-1) face top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret's (19-0-1) tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Hopkins High School in the opening round of the state tournament. The Wildcats lost to Benilde in a conference matchup 2-1 three weeks ago, and were one of only four teams to stay within a goal of the Red Knights this season.

Just eight minutes into the game, Diers scored on a crossing ball from Trandahl to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. In the 13th minute, Diers played a beautiful thru ball to Trandahl at the top right of the Esko box. Trandahl pushed the ball a few yards into the box and shot it easily around the keeper and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. It looked like the Wildcats might be on their way to an easy win. But the Esko defense stiffened and didn't really allow the Wildcats any decent scoring opportunities for the rest of the half.

Senior goalkeeper Mary Burch kept the game scoreless with a great save in the 36th minute. Esko ripped a high shot from about 25 yards out headed for the center of the net. Burch leaped and barely tipped the ball over the top of the net. The Wildcats went into halftime up 2-0.

In the 48th minute, Esko scored off of a corner kick to cut the Wildcat lead to 2-1. The goal served as a sort of wakeup call for the Wildcats and they dominated the rest of the game offensively and defensively. Burch, who had done her part to keep the Wildcats in the lead, didn't have much to do in the last 30 minutes.

In the 65th minute, Trandahl passed the ball to Diers from the left side of the box. Diers, in the middle of the box, rolled the ball past the keeper and into the lower left corner of the net to put the Wildcats up 3-1. 15 minutes later, a couple of hundred Wildcat fans counted down the last ten seconds. The Wildcats ran onto the field to celebrate their first ever trip to the state tournament.

"This is awesome!" said Burch. "I am so excited. I didn't get much action on my end in the second half because our defense was playing so well." Cassie Trandahl, a regular on the varsity since eighth grade along with several other seniors, was also pretty excited. "Oh, my gosh!" she said. "This is the dream we've always wanted since seventh grade. Our goal this year was to do well in the section tournament, so this is above and beyond. Getting to the state tournament feels so good."

Wildcat head coach Chris Haggerty found out before the game that he had been named Section 7A coach of the year. "It's been a great ride this year," said the soft-spoken Haggerty. "Our goal at the beginning of the season was to get to the state tournament and anything we accomplish now is a bonus. The girls got what they deserved this year. You can't deny it."

Chisago Lakes 2, Cloquet 0 (Section 7A Semifinal)

The Wildcats had to win their semifinal game before they had a chance to advance to the section championship against Esko. Second half goals by Hannah Trandahl and Cassie Trandahl and goalkeeper Mary Burch's ninth shutout of the season gave the Wildcats a 2-0 win in a game played at Chisago Lakes on Tuesday, October 19 in front of about 300 fans.

In the 20th minute, in the first good scoring chance for either team, Cloquet took a shot from 25 yards out that just went over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Burch stopped a point blank shot by Cloquet. The ball rolled behind Burch and a few feet to her right. Cloquet shot, but the ball was blocked by a Wildcat defender and bounced away harmlessly.

With 20 seconds left in the half, a Cloquet player got the ball near midfield and raced to the top right corner of the box. Before she had a chance to get off a shot, a hard challenge sent her flying. There was no call, the half ended 0-0.

In the second half, the Wildcats really began to put on some pressure. They had a couple of good scoring opportunities before they finally broke through. In the 66th minute, Cassie Trandahl carried the ball from midfield deep into the Cloquet box. She shot from six yards toward the lower left corner. The keeper dove and tipped the ball over the end line to give the Wildcats a corner kick. Rachel Diers sailed the ball from the left corner to the right side of the box. Hannah Trandahl, in perfect position, headed a bouncer into the right corner of the net to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Eight minutes later, the Wildcats scored the clincher. Gwen Vitalis subbed into the game and immediately took a throw-in from about 40 yards out on the left sideline. She threw the ball in to Cassie Trandahl, who turned and made a beeline for the right side of the box. Deep in the box, she nailed it past the keeper and into the back of the net. The Wildcats kept up the pressure for the last six minutes of the game and, when the horn went off, were on their way to the state tournament.

The Wildcats outplayed Cloquet for most of the game, but Cloquet kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard by inducing offsides. Nearly every time the Wildcats tried to play a through ball, usually to Cassie Trandahl, Cloquet anticipated it and moved up to trap the Wildcats offside. The Wildcats were called for about 20 offside violations in the game, but still came through when they needed to. "They did well cutting off our through balls," said Wildcat head coach Chris Haggerty. "But we adjusted to it in the second half. And when we play our game, we can beat anybody."

"Our team has a great attitude," said Haggerty. "They have risen to every challenge this season. And having a lot of fans here today was big. Mary Burch made a big save for us in the first half to keep the game scoreless."

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