Girls Section 7A preview: CL is third seed, NB 11th

Though it’s never out of the realm of possibility, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which the third-seeded Wildcat girls’ soccer team (7-5-3) would lose its opening round game in the Section 7A tournament to 14th-seeded Eveleth-Gilbert (1-10-1). The game takes place tonight at Chisago Lakes at 7 p.m. The Wildcats earned their high seed with a combination of their section record (3-2-1) and a tough overall schedule.

The Wildcats seemed to have finally found the scoring punch that has been missing since Gwen Vitalis was hurt at the beginning of last season. Junior Lauryn Delzer and senior Kara Herr have led the offensive resurgence that has seen the Wildcats score 16 goals in their last four games. Assuming the Wildcats take care of Eveleth-Gilbert tonight, they will play the winner of the game between fifth-seeded Cloquet and 12th-seeded Two Harbors at home this Saturday at 2 p.m. The 11th-seeded Vikings (4-11-1), meanwhile, take on sixth-seeded Princeton (5-5-6) at Princeton this afternoon at 4 p.m. Recent history gives the Vikings a great shot at an upset and advancement to Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The Vikings tied Princeton 1-1 on September 19. Princeton was the top-seeded team in the section last year, losing to eventual Section 7A champion Cloquet/Carlton in the semifinals. The Vikings are on a bit of a roll recently, with a 2-0 win over Rogers and a 4-3 loss to Monticello, who are seeded third in Section 5A. The win over Rogers snapped a nine-game winless streak and got the Vikings’ once-promising season back on track. The Vikings will look for scoring from sophomores Emma Pignato and Julia Rupp and senior Kadie Mattson, with playmaking help from junior Ashley Richter. The top seeds in Section 7A this year are number one Hermantown (12-1-3) and number two Duluth Denfeld (10-3-3). The Wildcats lost 3-1 to Hermantown and 1-0 to Denfeld in late August, with both games played up north. Later in sections, either of those teams could be in for a surprise as they face a Wildcat team that, as mentioned, has discovered its scoring punch.

The full bracket is at left. For updates on how the Wildcats are doing, check out www.chisagocountypress.com in the Sports section or follow Chisago County Press on Facebook or Twitter at ChisagoCoPress.

SECTION 7A UPDATE
Chisago Lakes girls were seeded third and beat Eveleth-Gilbert 10-0 and now face sixth seeded Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Chisago Lakes. The girls fell 1-0 to Princeton on Saturday, ending their season.

North Branch girls were seeded 11th and lost to sixth seeded Princeton 3-1