•  Two wins in final regular-season games give Lakers home playoff game

The Minnewaska Area boys soccer team ended the regular-season in dramatic style, scoring 10 goals in its final two games to not only beat Prinsburg (5-1) and St. John’s Prep (5-0), but also give the Lakers a first-round playoff game at home.

The Lakers, who also dropped a 2-0 decision at Rocori last Monday night, ended the regular-season with a 6-5-4 overall record, which includes a 2-4-2 mark in the Granite Ridge Conference.

St. Cloud Cathedral, ranked in the top three in state, won the conference title with a perfect 8-0 record, followed by Little Falls-LPGE (3-3-2), Minnewaska (2-4-2) and Melrose Area and St. John’s Prep (both 2-5-1).

The Lakers are now set to begin the playoff and Minnewaska Area is set to host a Section 8A quarterfinal game at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 12 against Melrose Area.  

The tournament continues Oct. 14 at St. Cloud Cathedral and Oct. 17 for the finals at Sauk Centre.  St. Cloud Cathedral is the top seed.

Rocori 2, Minnewaska 0

The Minnewaska soccer team traveled to Rocori for a game last Monday night, losing 2-0.  “We knew the Spartans would be a difficult opponent, as they consistently compete against difficult opponents in the Central Lakes Conference,” coach David Vinje said.  “The Lakers did a great job of applying pressure defensively to the Spartans, but struggled to create high percentage scoring chances.

The Spartans had the best chance of the first half, firing a shot from close range. From what surely should have been a goal, goalkeeper Tenzin Dahl dove to his right, reached behind himself, and pawed the ball off the goal line to preserve the 0-0 scoreline.

“Very few high school goalkeepers are capable of making the saves that Tenzin can make,” coach Vinje said.

After a scoreless first half, the Spartans eventually broke the deadlock in the 51st minute.  Rocori added its second with seven minutes to play in the game.  Tenzin Dahl had 12 saves on the night.

“Defending is difficult, but our team is good at it. We have an excellent goalkeeper in Tenzin Dahl, and a really solid defensive base in junior Lane Curry, sophomore Connor Erickson and senior Ethan Curry,” coach Vinje said.  “They’re well shielded by junior Lucas Curry and senior captain Thomas Poegel. This defensive stability allows us to stay competitive in almost every game we play.”

Waska 5, Prinsburg 1

The Minnewaska soccer team hosted Central Minnesota Christian School on a windy Tuesday evening.

The Lakers entered the game coming off a physically challenging game the night before, but knew that in order to get a result their energy levels would need to be high. The Lakers brought the pressure, and the scoreline reflected that.

The pressure paid off in the 6th minute when Ryan Greseth struck a bouncing ball from just inside the 18-yard box, placing it past the keeper and giving the Lakers a 1-0 lead.

The scoring continued, as senior forward Blake Nelson received a pass from Connor Quelle. Taking the ball in stride, Nelson beat multiple defenders before rifling the ball past a standing CMCS goalkeeper to extend the Lakers’ lead to 2-0.

Greseth found the net again in the 26th minute; again from a bouncing ball. On the half-volley, Greseth fired the ball past a helpless CMCS goalkeeper to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead.  “We talked before the game about playing with a ‘swagger’ on the ball. We’re defensively solid, but sometimes enter games lacking confidence with the ball at our feet. That was definitely not the case tonight,” coach Vinje said.

The Lakers scored a fourth goal from another corner kick. From Greseth’s kick, junior Jackson Holmes rose up to head the ball into the back of the net, extending the Lakers’ lead to 4-0 going into halftime.

Four minutes into the second half, Nelson received a ball and played a well-weighted through ball. Freshman striker Caden Christensen sprinted on to the pass, and rolled the ball past an onrushing CMCS keeper to give Christensen his first varsity goal and the Lakers a 5-0 lead.

CMCS did score one goal on a long range strike. With significant help from the wind, the ball spun, dropped and bounced into the back of the Lakers net to make the final score 5-1.

Waska 5, SJ Prep 0

The Lakers soccer team traveled to St. John’s Prep for the final regular season game of the season.  Minnewaska Area scored another five goals to earn a 5-0 victory.

“The players knew they didn’t play well against Prep the first time they saw them this season (1-0 loss). It was obvious in the scoreline how badly they wanted to redeem themselves,” coach Vinje said.

The Lakers began the scoring in the 13th minute when senior Ethan Curry played a ball up the field to a sprinting Blake Nelson who received the ball and blasted the ball past a helpless SJP goalkeeper to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead.

The Lakers second goal came in the 30th minute when sophomore Ryan Greseth played the ball in from a corner kick. Senior captain Connor Quelle rose above the crowd and smashed the ball into the back of the net with a powerful headed effort, extending the Lakers lead to 2-0 going into halftime.

The Lakers began the second half wanting more goals. In the 53rd minute, Nelson received the ball, drew a couple of defenders and squared the ball for Quelle to slide the ball in for a 3-0 scoreline.

The Lakers added another a few minutes later when a St. John’s Prep player handled the ball inside the penalty area. Stepping up, Nelson calmly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper for a 4-0 Laker lead.

Minnewaska Area wasn’t finished scoring though, as Nelson attempted a long range effort the St. John’s Prep goalkeeper was unable to catch. Off the rebound, Quelle struck the ball out of the air, completing his hat trick and extending the Lakers’ lead to 5-0, which ended up being the final score.