Four members of the Minnewaska boys soccer team earned All-Granite Ridge honors following the 2024 season.  Earning All-Conference from the Granite Ridge Conference were seniors Jackson Holmes and Tenzin Dahl, while named to the honorable mention team were juniors Lane Curry and Connor Erickson.

In addition, the team announced team awards following a team banquet, Thursday night.  Named as the Most Valuable Player was Tenzin Dahl, who played goalie for the Lakers until this season when he moved to midfield.

Earning Most Improved was ninth-grader Carter Myrom, while earning The Engine Award was junior Lucas Curry.

Dahl also earned the Golden Boot award as the leading scorer with four goals, while Lane Curry won the Most Assists Award and also earned the “Goal of the Season” honor.  Finally, winning the Ted Hill Legacy Character Award was junior Riley Week.

The boys soccer team also had several athletes earn Minnesota State High School Soccer Coaches Association Academic Awards including Tenzin Dahl, Riley Thorfinnson, Morgan Meyer, Connor Erickson, Lucas Curry, Carter LeClair, Lane Curry and Ethan Klick, who all won Gold certificates (g.p.a. of 3.75 or higher), and Tydan Stewart, Micah Mahoney and Marshall Nichtern, who all received Silver certificates (3.5-3.74 g.p.a.)

•  The Minnewaska Area boys soccer team, coached by David Vinje, Caleb Greene and Jarrid Jergenson, closed out the 2024 season with a 2-12-1 overall record, which included an 0-9-1 mark in the Granite Ridge Conference.

The Lakers started off 2-1 after beating Heritage Christian in the second game of the season (2-1) and also beat Hillcrest in the third game (3-1).

However, a lack of scoring hurt the Lakers through the remainder of the season as Minnewaska Area scored just nine goals over its final 12 games after scoring six in the first three.

The Lakers did tie with Melrose late in the season, 1-1, but Minnewaska Area ended the season by losing four one-goal games and gave up a total of 44 goals over the course of the season.

The team will lose four seniors to graduation — Tenzin Dahl, Jackson Holmes, Morgan Meyer and Riley Thorfinnson, but the future of the program looks good with a strong group of underclassmen along with a strong youth program in the Minnewaska Mallards.

The Lakers were seeded fifth in the Section 8A Tourney and lost to fourth-seeded St. John’s Prep in the section opener, 6-1.

St. Cloud Cathedral went on to earn the section title and advance to the state Class A semifinals where it lost for the first time.  The Crusaders did come back to place third at state.

St. Cloud Cathedral won this year’s conference title with an 8-0 league mark, followed by Melrose Area (6-2-1), Little Falls-LPGE (4-5-1), Prinsburg CMCS (4-4-1), St. John’s Prep (3-5-2) and Minnewaska Area (0-9-1).

•  Jackson Holmes and Lane Curry were the top point-scorers for the Lakers this season.  Curry ended the season with an unofficial three goals and three assists, while Holmes had three goals and two assists, and Tenzin Dahl had a team-high four goals.

Also scoring one goal each this year were Lucas Curry, Caden Christensen, Connor Erickson, Ryan Greseth and Carter LeClair.

•  This year’s Minnewaska Area varsity boys soccer roster included seniors Tenzin Dahl, Jackson Holmes, Morgan Meyer and Riley Thorfinnson; juniors Riley Week, Ryan Greseth, Lane Curry, Lucas Curry and Connor Erickson; sophomores Caden Christensen, Cale Johnsrud, Marshall Kopp, Carter LeClair, Tydan Stewart, Marshall Nichtern, Ethan Klick and Micah Mahoney; and ninth-graders Owen Greene, Carter Myrom and Soren Jergenson.

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