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Boys

The Viking and Wildcat boys’ soccer teams battled to a 0-0 tie last Thursday, September 25 at North Branch.  The Vikings lost two away games, 4-1 to Princeton and 5-0 to Cloquet-Esko-Carlton.  They will finish up the regular season tonight against Mesabi East Area at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College at 5 p.m.  The Wildcats lost 2-1 at home to Zimmerman, and will play their final regular season game at home tonight against Grand Rapids at 6:30 p.m.

Girls

The Vikings beat the Wildcats 1-0 last Thursday, September 25 at North Branch High School. The Wildcats lost to Zimmerman 5-1 at home, and will finish out the season this Saturday at home against St. Francis at 11 a.m.  The Vikings girls finished the regular season on a high note.  They tied Duluth Denfeld 2-2 at Duluth, and crushed Princeton 4-0 at Princeton.

Section Playoff Preview

For both the boys and girls, all section playoff games wi be played at the home field of the higher-seeded team.  The quarterfinals will take place Tuesday, October 7, the semifinals will be played on Thursday, October 9, and the section finals will be held on Tuesday, October 14.

Chisago Lakes Girls – The Wildcat girls (7-5-3) currently have a QRF rating of 26, which would give them the fourth seed in Section 4AA.  They are slightly ahead of the fifth-seeded Totino Grace Eagles (QRF 29, 3-8-1),  Assuming those seedings hold, the Wildcats would host the Eagles in the quarterfinals.  The two teams played to a scoreless tie in late August.  With the Wildcats’ sterling defense, they may just need one goal to get a quarter final victory.   Unfortunately for both teams, whoever wins that game will have to face the Mahtomedi Zephyrs (QRF 1, 10-1-2)), the top-seeded team in the section and the state – and last year’s state champs – in the semifinals.  It would be a tall task for either team to beat the Zephyrs, who defeated the Wildcats 3-0 earlier this season.

North Branch Girls – The Vikings girls (QRF 25, 5-2-8) face a similar quandary in Section 7AA.  The would likely host the Hermantown Hawks (QRF 32, 5-6-2) in the quarterfinals.  But the winner of that game would play the Cloquet/Carlton Lumberjacks (QRF 2, 11-3-1), the top-seeded team in the section and the second-seeded team in the state, in the semifinals.  The Vikings lost 3-0 to the Lumberjacks earlier this season.  It would be tough for either the Hawks or the Vikings to beat the Lumberjacks and make it to state.

Boys – Both boys’ teams play in Section 7AA, which is the weakest section in Class AA in the state.  Grand Rapids, the Vikings, and Cloquet-Esko-Carlton have QRFs of 45, 46, and 47, respectively, and are seeded 2, 3, and 4. But that seeding could change before the final seedings and quarterfinal matchups come out this Sunday.   As it sits now, all three teams would host at least one home game.  Currently, the Vikings (QRF 46, 4-6-5) would host the sixth-seeded Wildcats (QRF 60, 2-12-1).  And, despite the Vikings’ higher ranking, the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie last Thursday, September 25, so it’s entirely possible that the Wildcats, the fourth-lowest ranked team in that state in Class AA, could beat the Vikings and advance to the semifinals.  But the quarterfinal matchups are still up in the air.  The top team in Section 7AA is the Duluth Denfeld Hunters (QRF 23, 6-6-2).  They beat the Vikings 4-0 in late August.  The X factor for the Vikings is leading scorer Jacob Edmonds’ who has 15 of the Vikings’ 23 goals this season.  The Vikings would need Edmonds to step up and score goals to have a chance to win the section and go to the state tournament.

You can find out the matchup and follow the section tournament results at mshsl.org.

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